Problems and prospects of forming a quality trade environment were discussed at a press club meeting with the participation of the city mayor and his first deputy. Opening the conversation, Anton Kryvytskyi referred to the world experience of economic structuring. He noted in particular that in developed countries, 60% of the labor market is employed in the service sector, and 35% in manufacturing. In the Soviet Union, this ratio was 10 to 80% respectively. Today in Lutsk the distribution is not yet European but already approaching it – over 30% of working Lutsk residents are employed in the service sector.
As for the quantitative infrastructure of trade, it is formed by the population's demand for goods and services. Today the city has 19 markets with 7,000 trading places equipped, and about 8,000 people work at them in total. There are 420 trade enterprises, including 20 supermarkets (9 of them opened in 2004 alone). Per 1,000 population, there is practically 1 store selling food and non-food groups of goods. As for the amount of modernly equipped space per capita, Lutsk's indicator is one of the highest in Ukraine.
As Anton Kryvytskyi noted, the city authorities promote a competitive environment, since it is a tool for lowering prices and an incentive for improvement. In addition, the city authorities regulate the quality of the trade sector through a combination of financial policy, economic analysis and marketing research, and planning. A tendency is emerging toward the formation of a special type of trade establishments that combine elements of recreation and entertainment – "Shopping as if it were a holiday." The construction of a building supermarket is planned, and about 2,000 square meters of retail space is also envisaged in the future underground passage.
First deputy city mayor Sviatoslav Kravchuk simultaneously voiced existing problems, such as the unprofitability of wholesale trade, a large share of goods (35%) being sold at unorganized markets, a low level of service at clothing and food markets, a significant amount of counterfeit goods, primarily alcoholic, tobacco and sausage products.
As for the priority tasks of the sector: expanding the supermarket chain as a tool of quality retail trade, raising the technical level of trade enterprises (including in terms of energy saving), and raising professional requirements for the level of education and professional qualities of trade workers.