Photo report from the VI RAU Expo 2023

On 5-6 September, the VI International Specialised Exhibition of the Retail and Development Industry (RAU Expo) took place at the CEC “Parkovy” in Kyiv. Speeches by 82 experts, 1,300 guests from market leaders among the participants, 60 exhibitors and more. See how it went this year in RAU’s photo report.

The exhibition was organised by the Retail Association of Ukraine. The general partner of the exhibition was SMART business, an international IT company that implements, localises and develops ERP, CRM and HRM systems based on Microsoft services. Uklon was the general partner for service delivery. The main topic of the event: “Adaptation and the course on development”. 

The exhibition’s expo zone was represented by about 60 companies, including Dragon Capital, Budhouse Group, Bizerba, Fondy, Cleaning Pro Group, Textilbox, Fly Kids, CHM Software, Promodo, SMART business, Midsun, Svitlotek, Viatec, Altea Group, TekstilBox, Quantula, Ava Tech, Halytska Svizhyna, Lumiere, Diodika, Synergy Construction, Podolyany shopping mall, Port City shopping mall and many other companies.

Photo zone near the brand wall. The photo shows Silpo representatives

SMART business team

Team of the Aurora market chain 

Top managers and owners of retail and commercial real estate companies at the expo zone

Expo zone stand

Halytska Svizhyna stand

Creatio stand

Representatives of Intertop, Dragon Capital Property Management and Victoria Gardens shopping mall

The guests of RAU Expo 2023 were top managers and owners of almost all key retail and commercial real estate companies, as well as organisations offering effective solutions for retail and development. Among the guests of the event were representatives of Fozzy Group, ALLO, Comfy, Epicentr K, Foxtrot, Watsons, YUKI, MOYO, VM Tekhnika, SOVA, Terytoriia minimalnykh tsin, Sport City, Halytska Svizhyna, Lviv Croissants, Silpo, WR Group, White Lines shopping mall, LPP, MustHave, Rozetka, Oasis shopping mall, Frantsuzkyi bulvar shopping mall, Komod na Livoberezhnii shopping mall, Market Mall Darynok, Smart Plaza shopping mall, etc.

In addition to the expo zone, business conferences were held in two streams, where about 82 speakers from Ukrainian and international companies shared their experience, presented interesting cases and new projects, and discussed current industry issues, ways to solve them, and key market trends. These companies have not only withstood and adapted to the most challenging conditions, but also continue to develop and support the country with humanitarian and military aid, tax revenues and jobs. 

In total, the programme included 12 thematic blocks covering such topics as retail recovery and post-war prospects, partnership between the trade industry and the state, the importance of social responsibility of business and much more. The first day began in Hall No. 1 with a session dedicated to the adaptation of the commercial real estate market during the war and its future prospects.

Tymur Enkhbaiar, Senior Associate, Sayenko Kharenko Tymur Enkhbaiar delivers a presentation “Challenges of legal synchronisation of Western standards and Ukrainian realities during the war adaptation and post-war reconstruction”

Maksym Onufriienko, CEO of Alfa Development Group, talks about the resumption of construction of logistics centres during the war

The auditorium during the speeches

Andrii Lototskyi, CEO of Retail&Development Advisor consulting company. The topic of his speech: “Concepts of new shopping malls, their uniqueness and competitive advantages”

The auditorium during the speeches

Questions for discussion. Speakers: Maksym Havriushyn (Budhouse Group), Petro Puniak (WR Group), Nataliia Kravets (Dragon Capital Property Management), Nataliia Antonenko (Port City Group), Oleksandr Overchuk (Zlata Plaza shopping mall). The session was moderated by Artem Retin, Managing Partner of Retail.Pro, a property management company.

Speakers of the session

At the same time, representatives of Promodo, Num8erz, Podorozhnyk, Fozzy Group, UPG, VOVK, Novus and RAU spoke in another hall to discuss the recovery of the retail industry. The session started with presentations by individual speakers and continued with a panel discussion.

Yana Yermakova, Head of Analytics at the Retail Association of Ukraine, shares data on the recovery and transformation of retail during the war

Yuliia Yatsenko, Head of Research and Strategy at Promodo. Presentation: “Ukrainian e-commerce 2023: demonstrating endurance and making plans for the future” 

Andrii Shevchuk, Co-founder and CEO of Num8erz, delivers a presentation “Numberz.Insights – a panel for analysing customer behaviour: retailer cases and CPG 2023”

Panel discussion with Viacheslav Sauts (Podorozhnyk), Dmytro Tsyhankov (Fozzy Group), Nadiia Hanulich-Manukian (UPG filling stations), Volodymyr Yaremchuk (VOVK) and Dariia Ivanchenko (NOVUS)  

Portraits of the speakers

The session was moderated by Yana Yermakova, Head of Analytics at Retail Association of Ukraine

Auditorium

The panel of experts at the second session of the exhibition was no less impressive. Representatives of WOG, FOZZY Group, Bitserba Ukraine, Cleaning Pro Group, Sohina global recruitment, EDIN, METRO Ukraine and Mondelez Ukraine spoke in the first hall. The agenda of the session included innovative solutions and technologies for business. 

“Customer service automation as a response to labour market changes”. Speech by Oleh Kushil, Director of Digital Transformation at WOG filling stations

Ivan Slaviohlo⁣, Vice President for IT, FOZZY Group, and Anton Denysenko, Managing Director of Bitserba Ukraine, are on stage. Presentation: “Overcoming challenges and creating new opportunities through innovative technologies”

Oleksandra Ostapenko, COO of Cleaning Pro Group, speaks about the adaptation and development of modern cleaning in Ukraine

Anastasiia Sokhina, Founder and CEO of Sohina global recruitment. Presentation: “What innovations will help bring the labour market to a new quality level in Ukraine in 2023”

The joint presentation was made by Dmytro Honcharov, EDIN Product Manager, Nataliia Mishchenko, Chief Accountant of METRO Ukraine, and Yuliia Avramenko, International and Local Transport Specialist at Mondelez Ukraine. They spoke about the realities of implementing e-CMR for business.

At the same time, the session “Partnership between retailers and the state for economic recovery after the war” was held in another hall. The panel discussion was joined by Nadiia Bihun, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine,  Iryna Diachuk, Director of Government Relations at Fozzy Group, Artur Martynenko, Head of GR, BGV Group (KOLO chain), and Alla Kovalevska, Commercial Director at Auchan Ukraine. The session was moderated by Oleksii Frantsuz, Head of GR Retail Association of Ukraine.

Session participants during the panel discussion 

Speakers of the session

The business programme of RAU Expo 2023 continued with the second block of the conference “Leader’s Strategy under Martial Law” and an interview with Serhii Prytula, Founder of the Serhii Prytula Charitable Foundation, volunteer, public figure. 

Serhii Prytula and Andrii Zhuk (RAU), the session’s host

Auditorium

Auditorium

The interview was followed by a panel discussion with Dmytro Tanko, Retail Director at Epicentr K, Andrii Hnatyshak, Owner of Impero Group, Oleksii Hulyi, Owner of TekhnoIzhak, and Taras Lysyi, Owner and CEO of Halytska Svizhyna. The session was moderated by Andrii Zhuk, Co-founder of the Retail Association of Ukraine.

Speakers of the discussion

From left to right: Oleksii Hulyi (TekhnoIzhak), Dmytro Tanko (Epicentr) and Andrii Zhuk (RAU)

Andrii Hnatyshak (Impero Group) and Taras Lysyi (Halytska Svizhyna)

The session “Expanding Borders. Peculiarities of working in new markets” was held in another hall. The speakers were top managers and owners of Marmeladnyi Kit, Lviv Croissants, SMART business, TUGATO, Kormotech, Solmar and Dzyuba retail studio.

Anna Ostrovska (Marmeladnyi Kit)

Denys Shevchuk (SMART business)

Tetiana Lakhtadyr (Solmar)

Yuliia Dzyuba (Dzyuba) and Andrii Kucherenko (Kormotech)

Andrii Kucherenko (Kormotech) and Anastasiia Koshova (TUGATO)

The first day of the exhibition ended with an evening buffet.

The party is in full swing

Friendly atmosphere during the holiday

Festive atmosphere

VIP guests of RAU Expo 2023

The second session day was no less eventful. Session No. 1 in the first hall was dedicated to tools for increasing sales. Among the speakers were top managers from Antoshka, Lanet CLICK, Fondy, SMART Demand Forecast, Kyivstar, and Terytoriia minimalnykh tsin.  

Ivan Chyvkin, Director of Operations and Development at Antoshka, speaks about managing turnover and profitability in retail

Mykola Andrushchenko, CMO of Lanet CLICK. Presentation: “Digital in Ukrainian retail during the war”

“How to sell Ukrainian to the whole world?” Bohdan Bilenko, Business Development Manager at Fondy, speaks.

Artem Stepanov, Expert in the Field of Predictive Analytics, Product Owner of the SMART Demand Forecast solution. Presentation: “How can the use of artificial intelligence help increase business profits?”

Oleksandr Nazaruk, Head of Retail Solutions at Kyivstar, shares how Big Data helps retailers grow”

Auditorium

Nataliia Khomik, Marketing Director, Terytoriia minimalnykh tsin. Presentation: “CRM marketing features of the Terytoriia minimalnykh tsin that increase sales”

Auditorium

After the break, representatives of Foxtrot, VIATEC, WhiteDoc, INIC and Uklon gathered in the same hall to discuss innovative solutions and technologies for business. 

Vasyl Hryb, Head of Technical Sales Support at Foxtrot, Presentation: “Integration of contactless payment tools in household appliances and electronics retail: experience of Foxtrot network in wartime”

Oleh Kiriiainen, Commercial Director of VIATEC, speaks about profitable security technologies

Presentation: “InsurTech and retail: the way of Kodak or Netflix”. Dmytro Slychko, CEO of INIC Insurance Company, speaks

Dmytro Dudchenko, HBD of WhiteDoc electronic document management service. Presentation: “WhiteDoc is a new opportunity to improve customer service and accelerate business processes” 

Yevhen Borysenko, Business Developer Manager, Uklon. Presentation: “Reducing risks and expanding horizons: Express delivery as a key tool for optimising business processes for online services”

The session “Labour Market. How to survive the high season in the face of staff shortages” was held in the Hall No. 2. Yana Yermakova, Head of Analytics at the Retail Association of Ukraine, and Yuliia Dalibuk, Marketing Director at robota.ua, shared their analytics on the “Challenges and dynamics of the retail labour market”.

Yana Yermakova (RAU)

Yuliia Dalibuk (robota.ua)

Auditorium

They were followed by a panel discussion of innovative tools for attracting and retaining staff, which included Viktoriia Zakarchevna, HR Director of Terytoriia minimalnykh tsin, Kateryna Bandurovska, HRD of Comfy, Oksana Ohneva, Talent Management Director at Miratech, Iryna Hnutova, HRD of Agromat, and Polina Tishchenko, HRD of MHP’s own retail business. The session was moderated by Myroslava Trandash, Owner of MIRA top recruiting (Executive/IT), Co-founder of MIRAHUB.

Speakers of the discussion

Portraits of the speakers

The next session was “Franchising as a catalyst for economic recovery and promotion of Ukrainian brands in the world”, which was held under the auspices of Franchise Group. Changes in the franchising market were discussed by Natalia Nazarenko, Project Manager of Bo Khlib, Vasyl Pasichnyk, Head of Franchising at Agromat, Maksym Melezhyk, Customer Service Director at Nova Poshta, Andrii Usenko, CEO and Co-founder of Miastoria, and Co-founder of Tvoe Kolo, and Viktor Molchenko, CEO of Nash Krai and SPAR. The session was moderated by Mariia Bezdushna, Project Manager at Franchise Group.

Portraits of the speakers

Two more final sessions were held after the lunch break. The first of them was called “Bold communications and social responsibility of business”. The speakers were representatives of NAI Ukraine, Urban Experts, Kearney Ukraine, Multifunctional Complex Gulliver, Arricano Real Estate, Lukas and Intertop Ukraine.

The session was moderated by Olena Yakovenko, Managing Partner of Prсom

Volodymyr Stetsyk, Director of Kearney Ukraine. Presentation: “The offensive needs support”

Vitalii Boiko, CEO & Founder at NAI Ukraine / Urban Experts

Mariia Samplavska, CMO of Intertop Ukraine. Presentation: “Fashion for responsibility” 

Inna Morozova, Marketing Director of Arricano Real Estate, delivers a presentation “The year of sustainability and courage of shopping malls” 

Yuliia Tkachenko, Head of Development and Sales at Lukas chains, speaks about the “sweet Ukrainisation”

Kateryna Shpachuk, PR-manager of Multifunctional Complex Gulliver. Presentation: “Come back events to shopping malls: about the meaning and partnerships”

The other session was held under the auspices of IDNT and was called “Ukrainian retail: BOLD AND UNBREAKABLE”. Representatives of eSputnik, KRAINA MRIY, Aurora, KOLO and IDNT took the floor.

The session was moderated by Mykola Chumak, Co-founder and CEO of IDNT

Oleh Liesov, Chief Product Officer, eSputnik. Presentation “E-commerce Benchmarks: Insights into customer behaviour and communication strategies during the war”

Olena Koronotova, Co-owner and Managing Partner of IDNT. Presentation: “Ukrainian retail breakthrough during the war. Success factors”

Participants of the panel discussion

The Retail Association of Ukraine would like to thank all the speakers, guests, and partners of the event, without whom the exhibition would not have been possible.

Event partners: 

INFORMATION PARTNERS of RAU Expo 2023:

RAU team congratulates everyone on the 6th RAU Expo

More photos can be found at this link.