ATB introduces limits, while "Silpo" does not: what is happening with food sales in Ukraine

On August 28, the ATB supermarket chain introduced limits on the quantity of certain goods that could be purchased per customer. UNN reports this, citing a statement by the chain’s representative, Serhii Demchenko.

The company assured that this was not related to a shortage of products; the decision was made because of cases of bulk purchases of goods for subsequent resale.

Details

On Friday, August 28, notices appeared in ATB stores restricting the sale of certain categories of goods per customer. 

"There is no shortage of products in the stores. The restrictions were introduced because of cases when individual customers bought goods in large quantities for subsequent resale," Demchenko explained regarding the situation. 

He clarified that such large-scale purchases could create localized buying frenzies and temporarily result in certain items being unavailable on the shelves for other customers.

He added that limits on the sale of certain goods apply in ATB stores throughout Ukraine, regardless of the region.

Why Silpo did not introduce limits on food purchases

The Silpo supermarket chain confirmed that it had not introduced any restrictions on the sale of goods similar to those at ATB.

In an exclusive comment to UNN, a representative of the chain’s press service emphasized that customers could purchase the necessary goods as usual and urged them not to give in to panic.

Context 

On Friday, August 28, Ukrainians began massively posting photographs from ATB stores on social media. They showed information signs stating that limits were being imposed on customers’ purchases of a number of products. According to the signs, a limit of six items or six kilograms of the relevant product applies per customer within a single receipt. In particular, the restrictions cover the "Groceries," "Dry Goods" and "Eggs" categories.

In addition, the list of products subject to restrictions included:

• canned fish and canned seafood;
• canned meat;
• vegetable oil and vinegar;
• instant foods and food concentrates;
• starch;
• groats;
• pasta;
• flakes;
• salt;
• baking soda;
• baking products;
• sugar;
• chicken eggs.

The limits began to apply not only in physical stores. When placing an online order, the system also does not allow more than the established quantity of goods from the relevant categories to be added to a single receipt. This applies to ATB supermarkets both in frontline cities (Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Kryvyi Rih) and Kyiv, as well as in western regions of Ukraine. 

The restrictions appeared amid large-scale Russian attacks on the logistics infrastructure of Ukrainian retailers. Earlier, government officials reported significant damage to the warehousing and logistics infrastructure of retail chains as a result of Russian attacks. However, according to currently available data, there is no threat of a systemic food shortage in Ukraine at present; possible disruptions primarily concern the logistics, assortment and delivery times of certain goods.

Reminder

In June 2026, a Russian strike destroyed one of ATB’s large distribution centers near Dnipro, covering an area of 37,500 square meters and supplying more than 300 stores in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Afterward, the company said it was reallocating product flows among its other logistics centers.