Kyiv Metro Buys 3,600 Folding Chairs for Shelter Stations: What Is Known About the Deal

The Kyiv Metro is preparing for prolonged air-raid alerts and has begun equipping its shelter stations with additional seating. According to data from the Prozorro public procurement system, in late August 2026 the municipal enterprise “Kyiv Metro” signed a contract with Soi Group LLC for the supply of 3,600 folding tourist chairs with backrests. The purchase is intended to improve conditions for passengers on the platforms during mass attacks, when the underground stations turn into shelters for tens of thousands of people.

What Was Purchased and for How Much

According to the technical documentation published in Prozorro, the total value of the deal is 1.87 million hryvnia, which works out to roughly 435 hryvnia per chair excluding VAT. The product is described as having a metal frame, fabric upholstery, a backrest and armrests — in other words, these are folding tourist models designed for compact storage and quick setup. Delivery is scheduled in batches, and the full contract performance period has been extended to 31 March 2027, indicating a phased distribution of the chairs across the network’s stations.

Why the Metro Needs Thousands of Chairs

It is important to recall the scale of the task: the 46 underground stations of the Kyiv Metro serve as shelters during alerts, and during mass strikes tens of thousands of people are on the platforms at the same time. During prolonged air-raid alerts, passengers have to spend several hours underground, and the ability to sit rather than lie on the floor or on mats significantly reduces the strain on people, especially the elderly and those sheltering together with children. This is precisely why the metro is betting on the mass deployment of seating.

Four Shelter Zones on the Platforms

In parallel with the furniture purchase, the metro has introduced an organizational division of the space: the platform has been conditionally split into four shelter zones. Separate sectors have been designated for people with children, for people with reduced mobility, for passengers with animals, as well as a general seating zone. This approach makes it possible to structure the flow of people during an alert and make the stay in the shelter more predictable and comfortable, and the purchased chairs fit logically into the “seating zone.”

The Broader Context: Modernization and Construction

The chair purchase is just one element of a broader program to develop and prepare the infrastructure of the Kyiv Metro. In the same vein, the enterprise is working on updating its rolling stock: a tender for the purchase of through-ride cars had previously been announced, and on the construction side a contract was signed to continue building the metro toward Vinohrady for an amount of around 14 billion hryvnia. Taken together, these steps show that the metro is simultaneously addressing wartime tasks — organizing shelters — and the long-term development of the network.