Restaurants are closing en masse in Lviv due to raids by territorial recruitment centers and the departure of displaced people

Dozens of restaurants are closing in Lviv due to the outflow of internally displaced persons and the actions of territorial recruitment center officials.

This was reported by Forbes.

According to the magazine, 50 establishments closed in the city during 2022-2023. Olga Nasonova, the director of the analytical center “Restaurants of Ukraine,” told the publication about this.

In the second half of 2024, another fifty establishments are expected to close, 60% of which were operating before the Russian invasion, according to the restaurant holding company *!Fest*.

Restaurateurs are complaining that their earnings have drastically fallen, forcing them to announce either imminent closures or mass layoffs.

“In 2024, about 70% of our regular customers disappeared. Until April 2024, we were operating at a loss. After that, we realized it was over,” said the former owner of a now-closed establishment near Rynok Square.

The collapse of the business is attributed to the fact that in 2024, displaced persons began leaving Lviv, where there were 150,000 of them in June 2023. The second factor was the tightening of mobilization in May 2024, which led to fewer people coming to the city and leaving their homes.

Recently, the media reported that in Kharkiv, men are not showing up for work due to sweeps by territorial recruitment centers. Car owners are unable to visit auto repair shops because there is no one available to service their vehicles.

In October, the media covered a case of harsh mobilization in Lviv involving a person who was not subject to it. A man from Kharkiv, who now lives in Lviv, claimed that he was forcibly taken and beaten by military commissars, despite being a student and having the right to a deferral.