Kievrianta is one of Aer RiantaInternational’s longest running and mostsuccessful overseas ventures. And it’s onefounded on a solid partnership betweenIrish and Ukrainian cultures, as GeneralManager Garrett Coogan explains.

The world-roving Irish have made ahabit of creating successful duty freebusinesses based on mutual respectand shared responsibility with localpartners and staff. And that’s typified

by Kievrianta. Since it began running Kyiv Duty Freein May 1992 it has grown as a company just as Ukraine,born just a year earlier, has emerged as a country.

Like any retail business Kyiv Duty Free lives or dies bythe staff on the shop floor, and they are the key ingre-dient in the company’s rapid recent growth, says Gen-eral Manager Garrett Coogan.

“This business has been founded on good people, fromthe time Kievrianta opened for business in 1992through to today. There’s Vladimir Sai, our Director-General (and Honorary Irish Consul to Ukraine) with

whom we’ve always had a great relationship. If there’sbeen a key person that’s helped lay the foundations fora successful business, it’s him.”

There’s also the management team, which traditional-ly has involved a handful of Irish executives – today thatincludes Coogan, Operations Manager DomnickO’Reilly and Finance Manager Seamus Holmes –blended with a predominantly Ukrainian staff.

“The Irish element has added continuity, and over timewe have learned to understand and respond to localsensitivities,” says Coogan. “But most of all, there’s thestaff – front of house staff and back office staff. It’s notjust the Irish, and it’s not just the Ukrainians; it’s a com-pany that has a life of its own. We have that joint cul-ture where East meets West, with relationships basedon respect for each other.”

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Those ingredients have made Kievrianta one of AerRianta International’s longest running and most success-ful overseas ventures, one whose rapid growth today isbuilt on a fast-emerging Ukrainian middle class. Ukraini-ans make up 70% of departing passengers, and departingUkrainians and Russians are the core spending passengersat Kyiv Boryspil Airport.

It’s a target audience that Kievrianta knows and under-stands very well. A walk through the shop leaves the vis-itor in no doubt that brands, and the appeal of luxury, arekey factors in driving spend among the ultra-fashion-conscious local customer base. Premium liquor and topbeauty brands dominate the selection, and are comple-mented by high-end areas dedicated to Cartier, ST

Dupont, Montblanc and Givenchy, brands that add a pre-mium flavour to the store. It’s a mix that hasn’t comeabout by accident.

“We need to cater for the needs of our Ukrainian andRussian clientele,” says Coogan. “If we had more space,then of course we’d look to develop the range of localproducts we offer, or maybe even open a stand-alonesouvenirs store, but the practicalities are different. Iflocal products or other categories can’t show that theycan deliver a return on space, then we can’t includethem.”

The growth of the business, especially since the newshop opened on Christmas Day 2003, proves that the

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strategy is paying off – and not just because it is tradingin 600sq m today compared to 190sq m up to late 2003.Taking 2003 as a base, sales have increased by an estimat-ed +211% in the three years to the end of 2006, againstpassenger growth of +80% in the period. That growthis being driven by strong rises in core categories such asfragrances and liquor, which between them make uparound two-thirds of sales. Tobacco accounts for a fur-ther 9%.

Growth rates of 30–40% in almost every category year-on-year mean that Kievrianta risks becoming somethingof a victim of its own success. Sales in 2007 are budget-ed to rise by +15% compared to 2006, with expectationsof the business rising all the time.

Coogan and Kyiv Duty Free’s 200-strong staff aren’timmune to the pressure of that expectation, but the pas-sion and the professionalism of the team mean they’rewell placed to meet the challenge head-on.

“You have to be ambitious for the business,” says Coogan,“and you have to believe you can deliver double-digit ratesof growth. And that means not only the range you offeror the prices you set, but the service you give,” saysCoogan. “Our competitiveness is generated every bit byinternal demands as external ones. We have to match thestandards of downtown retailing, but that isn’t very ambi-tious. We want to respond to how other duty free opera-tors do things, and we want to be seen as one of the verybest retailers in Europe, not just in Eastern Europe.” �

Lifeblood of the business: Kyiv Duty Free staff andmanagement today, 15 years on from the start of a ground-breaking Irish–Ukrainian alliance

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