Petition against privatization of Zhytniy Market gained votes – what will Kyiv City Council decide?
30 May 14:51
In Kyiv, a petition calling for the preservation of Zhytniy Market and preventing its transfer to private hands has gathered more than six thousand signatures, the required minimum for consideration by the capital’s authorities, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The authors of the initiative insist that the Zhytniy Market, along with its auxiliary buildings and open shopping area at 16 Verkhniy Val, should remain in municipal ownership and be preserved as a valuable architectural and cultural object.
The petition was developed by Ukrainian heritage researchers Leonid Marushchak, Elmira Ettinger, and Olena Borysova. They call on the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection to urgently grant the Zhytniy Market the status of a newly discovered cultural heritage site. According to them, the object is valuable in several categories at once: architecture, science and technology, monumental art, urban planning, and landscape.
In addition, the initiators of the petition demand that the Kyiv City State Administration and the executive bodies of the Kyiv City Council abandon any plans to privatize or transfer the Zhytniy Market utility to private ownership. In their opinion, this could lead to a barbaric reconstruction, and subsequently to the complete destruction of the market or the development of its territory.
Instead, the activists propose an alternative – to develop a program for the maintenance, restoration, preservation and development of the Zhytniy Market at the expense of the city budget. The relevant documents have already been submitted to the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection.
It is worth noting that in parallel with the anti-petition, another initiative for the privatization of Zhytniy Market gathered votes in the capital. Its authors propose to put the building up for sale, but with mandatory conditions for preserving the architectural heritage of the object.
As a reminder, on March 21, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that Kyiv would announce a new auction for the lease of Zhytniy Market, which is municipally owned. The maximum deadline for submitting applications will be 25 days.
Famous restaurateur and chef Yevhen Klopotenko, who is taking the initiative to save Zhytniy Market, told Kommersant Ukrainian
in an exclusive commentary why the market is interesting for the city and about preparations for the auction.
Zhytniy Market
Zhytniy Market is considered to be the oldest market in Kyiv that is still operating. It dates back to the times of Kyivan Rus and has been one of the main centers of small trade in the capital throughout the history of Kyiv. The market is a cult place for many Kyivites, especially residents of Podil, where it is located. The current Zhytniy Market building, built in 1980, is considered a monument of modernist architecture.
the “problems” with Zhytniy Market began long ago. The market building had been deteriorating over the decades of its operation, and thus the city authorities did not take the necessary steps to maintain it in good condition. This gave activists grounds to claim that the market was being prepared for transfer to big business, and possibly for demolition for future development.
In April 2022, the tender for the lease of the market was won by the Tangierin company, owned by beer magnate Florian Bolen. The businessman planned to set up a food court and a beer pub on the second floor and undertook to reconstruct and overhaul the market. However, during the year of the contract, he not only failed to start the repairs, but did not even pay the rent properly, according to market representatives.
In July 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee opened a case against that tender, suspecting its participants of collusion and distortion of the auction result.
Businessman and restaurateur Yevhen Klopotenko was one of the initiators of a broad discussion about the future of the market. In October last year, the market hosted a brunch with businessmen, activists, urbanists, Podil residents, and Kyiv authorities. As part of the initiative, Klopotenko and his associates were preparing a development strategy for Zhytniy Market, according to which it should retain its uniqueness as a place to sell seasonal and local products and a point of attraction in Podil, rather than turn into another shopping mall.
