ATB Market introduces purchase limits on eggs and groceries across Ukraine: what you can no longer buy in quantities over 6 units and why

The Ukrainian retail chain ATB Market has introduced restrictions on the sale of a range of grocery items and chicken eggs. As Sergey Demchenko, head of the company's corporate communications department, told RBC-Ukraine in a comment, the decision was made against the backdrop of mass buying of socially significant food products by wholesale resellers, which puts ordinary shoppers at risk of being left without the goods they need. According to the retailer's representative, the chain's affordable prices triggered bulk purchasing of basic products, creating a rush and threatening the availability of goods on the shelves.

What has been restricted and in what quantities

The restrictions affect essential food items: chicken eggs, fish and meat canned goods, vegetable oil, vinegar, grains, pasta, sugar, salt, baking soda and other products. In total, the company confirms that the new rules cover more than ten food categories. The specific limits per shopper are as follows: no more than 6 dozen eggs, no more than 6 kg of loose or solid products, and no more than 6 bottles (or other types of packaging) of certain products. ATB emphasises that these rules are based on consumer demand research data and are designed to meet the real needs of a retail shopper, not wholesale purchases.

The cause — unscrupulous wholesale buyers

The company directly links the introduction of limits to unfair competition. "The restrictions are, first and foremost, related to unfair competition, namely the fact that wholesale sellers are buying up essential food products and thereby limiting ordinary shoppers' ability to purchase the goods they need. These players are creating a certain rush," Sergey Demchenko stated. The main goal of the new rules, he said, is to protect the retail consumer and prevent a shortage of basic products on supermarket shelves. Thus, the retailer is effectively shifting part of the responsibility for local supply disruptions onto wholesale players, who, the company claims, are using the chain's low retail prices as a purchasing channel.

Geography, formats and duration of the measures

The restrictions apply across the entire ATB Market national chain and cover both sales formats — both offline stores and online orders. This means the limits cannot be bypassed by moving the purchase to the digital channel. At the same time, the company does not give a clear forecast on when the restrictions will be lifted: ATB notes that it is difficult to make such forecasts under current conditions, but it is ready to review the forced temporary measures as soon as the market situation stabilises. The wording "forced temporary measures" indicates that the chain views the limits not as a permanent policy, but as an emergency tool for regulating the turnover of socially significant goods.

Contradictory data

It is appropriate here to compare two positions. On the one hand, ATB Market describes the situation as one that is creating a rush and a real threat to the availability of basic products for the end consumer, which in fact implies a local shortage on the shelves. On the other hand, Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Taras Vysotsky, previously assured that there are no preconditions for a systemic physical shortage of basic products, while acknowledging temporary changes in the assortment or availability of certain items in specific stores. Thus, the company and the ministry assess the same phenomena differently: the retailer talks about a disruption caused by the behaviour of wholesale resellers, while the ministry talks about the absence of a systemic shortage with possible point fluctuations. The two statements do not directly exclude each other, but they differ in their assessment of the scale of the problem, which is important to consider when interpreting the news story.

The chain's financial context

The decision to introduce limits is being made against the backdrop of the retailer's solid financial performance: according to public reports, ATB Market earned around 3 billion hryvnia in 2024. This underscores that the restrictions were introduced not because of problems with its own assortment or supplies, but as a reaction to external pressure from wholesale buyers who, according to the company, are distorting the retail turnover of socially significant categories. For consumers, this means that in the coming weeks, when buying eggs, grains, oil, sugar and canned goods in ATB stores and its online showcase, a strict limit of 6 units / 6 kg / 6 dozen per shopper will apply.