Львівські ринки: перехід до вільної економіки, місця соціальної взаємодії

The paper analyzed the activity of Lviv markets during the transition to a free-enterprise economy as places where a new culture of sale and consumption developed, as well as places where social interaction took place. In the first years of independence, old food markets continued to function in Lviv and new industrial markets appeared, which became a symbol of the transition to capitalism, which was accompanied by long-term systemic transformations that the state tried to control. The contradictory processes of the formation of the business model in the first years of Ukraine’s independence are shown.

Based on the analysis of a wide range of archival sources and publications of city and regional periodicals, the author focused on describing the market environment, the local contingent, the unauthorized sale of goods, characterized the types and activities of city markets, their appearance and improvement, price policy, etc. Corruption and racketeering became an integral part of market relations, which often involved law enforcement, which created an atmosphere of fear and instability. At the same time, the city attempted to reform and reorganize the markets. Daily one-time fees for visitors and sellers were introduced, new markets were opened, and thus attempted to move trade from the central parts of the city to the outskirts. Against the backdrop of high inflation, prices were constantly changing, and therefore the situation with trade for rubles and dollars, as well as black market of currency exchange, is presented as a separate aspect.

The author came to the conclusions that the markets of Lviv in the first years of Ukraine’s independence became a place of economic and social changes and transformation, where private business developed, which provided the population with products and goods that were part of everyday life, paid taxes and influenced the improvement of the city, and ordinary citizens could fulfill their consumer demand.