The Seventh-Kilometer Market (, ''Rynok Siomyi Kilometr'') is an outdoor

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

outside of

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Description

Originally, in the 1960s and 1970s, it was open only on Sundays (later on Saturdays) in Slobidka, near the 3rd Jewish cemetery on Khimichna Street, at the time a small walled-in area of 150 m wide and 250 m long, hence totally inadequate for a market and where an association with shoving originated. The new version was founded in 1989 during

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

reforms; it is now possibly the largest market in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. When founded as an Odesa

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

in the 1960s, the market was officially restricted to selling used items only, but entry was charged to anyone entering with anything held in their hands because new items would be sold by traders from their hands (з рук) walking the market as opposed to used goods sold off the ground displays. The market was open until 3–4 pm, but owing to the difficulty in reaching it, which until 1966 involved a 2 km walk from the nearest tram (No. 15) stop; it was paramount to reach the market very early in the morning as all worthwhile goods were sold by 10–11 am.Из воспоминаний об Одессе – 5
/ref> When relocated in 1989, it was to an area outside the city's limits at the seventh kilometer of the

– Ovidiopol highway, thus acquiring its name. As of 2006, the market covered 170 acres (0.69 km²) and consists largely of steel

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...

s, which rent for up to US$6,000 (EUR 4,700) or more per month, as well as an increasing number of ordinary shops in buildings. It has roughly 6,000 traders and an estimated 150,000 customers per day. Daily sales, according to the Ukrainian periodical '' Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'', were believed to be as high as US$20 million in 2004. With a staff of 1,200 (mostly guards and janitors), the market is also the region's largest employer. It is owned by local land and agriculture

tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Viktor Dobrianskyi and three partners of his. The independent traders on the market sell goods in all price ranges, from authentic merchandise to all sorts of cheap Asian consumer goods, including many

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

Western luxury goods. According to the impressions of S. L. Myers of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' who visited the market in 2006, :"the market is part third-world

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

, part post-Soviet

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, a place of unadulterated and largely unregulated

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

where certain questions — about salaries, rents,

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

es or last names — are generally met with suspicion." Dzerkalo Tyzhnia wrote in 2004 that :"it is a state within a state, with its own laws and rules. It has become a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

for the rich and a trade haven for the poor." However, Ukrainian president

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

announced in 2005 that he intended to enforce tax laws on the market's thriving shadow economy.

References

External links

* Information and pictures of Seventh-Kilometer Market * Most representative catalogue of goods on Seventh-Kilometer Market. Varied stock, more than 2 000 categories, about 30 0000 units. Sections of the site is constantly replenished *{{cite news , author = , url =https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/world/europe/18iht-journal.html?pagewanted=all , title =Ukrainian 'mall' not for the dainty , work =www.nytimes.com , publisher = , accessdate =2011-01-12 , date=2006-05-18 Article published by

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

in 2006 Retailing in Ukraine Retail markets in Ukraine Bazaars Buildings and structures in Odesa Flea markets

Description

See also

References

External links