Malls to Meeting Rooms Empty Amid Ukrainian No-Go Zone

In November, Ukrainian Trade Guild Consulting fielded calls from retailers including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Japan’s Uniqlo Co. about leasing space before this year’s opening of the country’s biggest shopping mall.

Then came protests, the street violence and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster. By January, UTG’s phones stopped ringing. Now, as deadly battles rage in the east, the 74-acre (30-hectare) Respublika concept, planned to include eastern Europe’s largest entertainment complex on Kiev’s busiest road, sits unfinished behind sagging chain-link and wooden fences, the project abandoned by foreign investors.