Ukraine’s Open-Air Bookselling Marketplaces Appear Headed for Closure

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From Publishing Perspectives:

One of Ukraine’s oldest open-air bookselling sites, Knizhka—located in Odessa’s marketplace—soon may be closed by local authorities, as confirmed to Publishing Perspectives by Sergei Dubenko, a deputy head of the department of trade in Odessa’s regional government offices.

The decision to close the market, Dubenko says, has been made because of urban-planning regulations violated by the Knizhka management. This, despite a contract for operating the venture in the busy locale until 2025.

In speaking to Publishing Perspectives about the expected closure, publishing players say that losing the market location may negatively affect the Ukrainian book trade because Knizhka has come to function as a symbol of reading and book culture in the country and a hub for sales of print books in the region.

In recent years, Knizhka has become a popular attraction for international tourists in Odessa. Shoppers have come to depend on the location for a specialization in rare books, and it has functioned as a reliable local source for textbooks, reference books, small-circulation illustrated catalogs and expensive gift editions of various titles.

. . . .

According to them, the loss of open-air book stall markets could mean the end of these location’s generally lower pricing that can be found in traditional bookstores.

. . . .

Nikolay Ivanov, the owner of a book stall in Kiev’s Petrovka book market, tells Publishing Perspectives that prices for books at these popular markets usually fall in the range of 40 to 60 Ukrainian hryvnia per book (US$1.50 to $2.25)–generally an affordable sum for the majority of local citizens.

. . . .

The used-book trade is especially important in Ukraine, where the demand has substantially increased in recent years mainly because of a sharp drop in local consumers’ purchasing power.  Since 2014, many Ukrainians have seen a new book as a discretionary item, even a luxury buy.

Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives

5 thoughts on “Ukraine’s Open-Air Bookselling Marketplaces Appear Headed for Closure”

  1. “The decision to close the market, Dubenko says, has been made because of urban-planning regulations violated by the Knizhka management. This, despite a contract for operating the venture in the busy locale until 2025.”

    So it’s just ‘So what if we’re breaking the rules – we got a contract!’?

    • Or, in the alternative, “So what if you’ve got a contract. Here are some new rules you are breaking, and cannot stop breaking while still operating.”

      I have no idea which interpretation is closer to the truth.

      • True, we don’t have enough facts. They could be closing them down so other shops can then overcharge …

      • Smart money is on the latter.

        “Urban planners” stomping on existing businesses is hardly a rare occurrence.

  2. > many Ukrainians have seen a new book as a discretionary item, even a luxury buy.

    That points at a group with a vested interest in limiting the sale or trade of used books – the people who make their living printing and selling new ones. And they have real money, unlike a bunch of nobodies selling out of stalls and car trunks.

    Any halfway-rational city government would be promoting the booksellers as showing how literate and cultured the city was. That they’re trying to shut it down…

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