According to the annual report Cushman & Wakefield «Shopping centers of Europe», Russia has moved from the first (2016) to the second line (2017) of the European ranking in terms of the number of new  introduced in the operation of retail space in shopping centers. In the first half of 2017, 186,000 square meters of retail space were opened in Russia.

"The decline in construction activity is a natural result of two crisis years: since 2015, there has been practically no new construction, only those facilities that were started in the pre-crisis period were put into operation," comments Tatiana Divina, Senior Director of the Research Department Cushman & Wakefield. According to the results of 2017, the minimum commissioning of retail space in Russia over the past 10 years is expected to be about 1.16 million square meters, and next year the volume of new construction will remain at the same level. However, the first signals of potential growth are noticeable on the market – increasingly there are messages from developers about the start of construction or about plans to enter the site in the near future. We will be able to see the market recovery only after 2019, since the average sales cycle of a retail facility is 2–3 years».

The Russian retail real estate portfolio, taking into account the objects planned for commissioning in the second half of 2017, 2018, will increase by 1.7 million square meters and strengthen its position as the largest in Europe. However, only 13% of these areas will be located in Moscow, as developers continue to expand their geographical coverage: construction begins in more remote regions of the country, such as Vladivostok (Kalina Mall with an area of 46,300 sq.m.m), Khabarovsk («Catchy Mall» with an area of 37,000sq.m. m) and Grozny («Grozny Mall» with an area of 59 000 sq.m.m).

The shortage of anchor tenants of federal and international networks is especially pronounced in these regions. Along with the opening of new format retail facilities, the situation may change. For example, in the shopping center under construction «Kalina Mall» in Vladivostok, a cinema of the Kinomax network has been announced for opening. The expansion of federal operators is actively aimed at Siberia, where the main market share is still occupied by local operators. So, «AUCHAN», «Decathlon» and McDonalds announced plans to enter Krasnoyarsk. In the Novosibirsk shopping center «Royal Park» opened a smartphone store Xiaomi. Expanding «M.Video»: taking into account the planned openings by the end of the year, the network will have about 70 stores in the regions of Siberia.

In general, in Europe, the total area of shopping centers increased by 2.9% over the twelve months as of June 2017, reaching an indicator of 160.8million square meters;meters. At the moment, the countries of Western Europe account for 68% of all existing retail space. However, in the first half of 2017, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe were ahead of them in terms of building rates, bringing 825,000 square meters of space to the market compared to;344,000 square meters in Western Europe. Turkey showed the greatest activity: it accounted for 48% (566,000 sq. m.) of all new retail space in Europe, in third place after Russia, Italy (107,000 sq.m.).

In total, 1.2 million square meters of new retail space appeared in Europe in the first half of 2017, which is 11% less than in the first half of 2016. The pace of development was influenced by growing competition, changing consumer behavior and, of course, an increase in the number of online retailers. At the moment, another 6.8 million square meters of retail space are under construction with announced opening dates until the end of 2018.