KYIV. Nov 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) - "Boom" in the retail real estate market in the regions of Ukraine can be expected in the next couple of years, projects of reconception and redevelopment of obsolete objects are already under development, Yevhenia Loktionova, the director of UTG, said.

"Retail real estate in the regions is now developing more actively than in Kyiv and other cities with a population of one million. This is due to the fact that in regional cities with a population of less than a million there is no question of market saturation, there are cities in which there are no shopping centers at all. I think that in the next couple of years we will have a certain 'boom'," she said at a press conference "20 Years of Commercial and Residential Real Estate. Retrospective and Trends" at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

According to Loktionova, a surge in activity in the regional retail real estate market was expected two years ago, but it was hampered by the presidential elections and the coronavirus pandemic.

According to her, currently there is an active development of projects for reconception and redevelopment of outdated projects in the regions, the implementation of which is expected within six months.

"Our company currently has about seven projects - Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Kamyanets-Podilsky, two projects in Izmail and other cities," the expert said.

The head of the UTG strategic consulting department, Kostiantyn Oliynyk, said the need to reconcept and renovate obsolete objects will become a matter of competition and survival.

"Consumer behavior is changing, people are more likely to order goods online, do not want to go to shopping galleries. All this will lead to the fact that in obsolete, non-conceptual objects without modern changes, attendance will tend to zero. More or less it will keep in high-quality, modern facilities," he explained.

According to Oliynyk, active cottage construction is an additional incentive for the development of retail real estate in the regions and outside large cities.

"The coronavirus has returned the consumer to the cottage segment. Cottage townships usually occupy large areas, there is a very low population density - it is difficult to saturate them with internal infrastructure. Therefore, they tend towards district shopping centers that serve these territories," he added.

The format of regional shopping centers will remain popular in the market for the next few years, Loktionova believes.