ICSC school first stage training will be held at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kyiv, 5-9 November 2007

  Inspired by Ukraine's high speed developing market in commercial trade space and the rising demand for highly qualified, locally-produced professionals, two organizations are going to found the country's first retail management school this November.

  The New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), a global trade association of the shopping center industry, working with the Ukrainian Trade Guild (UTG), a leading Kyiv-based consultancy specializing in real estate development projects, to establish its ICSC School of Real Estate in Kyiv.

  ICSC's school that will represent the participants all aspects of the shopping center industry is based on the program of the John T. Riordan International School for Professional Development, a US educational institution that offers training courses in various fields in real estate, including sale, management, leasing and marketing. ICSC already offers its program in several other countries worldwide, including US, Europe, and China.

  Ukraine's market for shopping center development is currently the strongest sector of its property for sale industry, while the country is lacking in the number of professionals specifically qualified in this field. The school's purpose is to increase the number of professionals knowledgeable in this specific field, which offers its players millions of dollars annually.

  The school's program will be conducted on semi-regular basis and consists of two week-long steps, the first of which will take place on Nov. 5 and last till 9 of this year at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kyiv. This stage will conclude an introductory course touching on trends in the global property for sale market, including new developments in marketing, merchandising, PR, and the foundations of leasing tendencies.

  The school's courses will be presented by foreign instructors and all the lectures will be read in English with simultaneous translation in Russian. At the end of the first stage, students will be granted by certificate. The second stage will be held in six months after the first one. After the second stage participants can pass ICSC's exam and obtain their international Certificate of Completion.

  Each stage in the training program will cost $1,495 for participants whose companies are not members of ICSC and $1,345 for ICSC members.

  Anna Patsyuk, director of Roznitsa-UA, a retail consultancy, admitted that "sooner or later such training courses will definitely be of great need…While there are retail chains in our country and their number is extremely growing, such training will be in demand."