Despite statements of support for small businesses, fair trade in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv is experiencing significant problems. In the first quarter of 2025, the average occupancy of trading floors was only 61.3%, which means that out of 5,893 places, only 3,611 were working. The rest of the space remained empty, although entrepreneurs have repeatedly complained about the shortage of legal and accessible retail outlets.
The financial consequences of this situation are significant. With actual revenues to the district budget of 1,119,340 hryvnias, it received almost 798 thousand hryvnias less, which is approximately half of the potential income from fair trade. Such an imbalance may indicate both organizational errors and deliberate actions aimed at limiting the circle of participants and maintaining control over financial flows.
In addition, the situation is complicated by non-compliance with sanitary standards. Many sellers sell food products without proper packaging, which creates risks of contamination. Trade often takes place directly from vehicles - minibuses, trailers, cars - without guarantees of hygienic safety. The lack of documents confirming the quality and origin of goods deprives buyers of the opportunity to be confident in the safety of products.
The head of the Podilskyi District State Administration, Volodymyr Nakonechnyi, and the head of the Podilskyi Police Department, Yuriy Trembitskyi, ignore numerous complaints about violations and do not take appropriate measures. Such inaction leads to the fact that many entrepreneurs remain outside legal trading platforms, which causes financial losses to the budget and creates risks for consumers.
In order to investigate this situation, an official complaint has been filed with a request to inspect the activities of officials of the Podil Regional State Administration and the municipal enterprise "Svitoch". The goal is to clarify the reasons for the inefficient use of the fair infrastructure and possible facts of intentional restriction of access to fair trade, which caused budget losses of over 797 thousand hryvnias.
