“I believe in miracles”

“Hospitality still feels the impact of the pandemic-induced crisis, both financially and mentally, but the spring-summer period was quite good. We could hardly see the signs of recession until the end of the year. There were lots of guests and programmes in the autumn. Inflation affects restaurant owners very differently than consumers: the prices of food products that need to be purchased on a daily basis have increased by not 30%, but by 100-150%. The problem is that owners can’t increase the prices of restaurant meals this much, because then the guests would stop coming.

Compared with 2020, the number of restaurants decreased by 3,600 by 30 June 2022, so there were fewer than 48,000 restaurants. Early last year there was another wave of restaurant closures. In spite of the forecasts of politicians and economists, I am more optimistic than I was at the end of 2022. Restaurant owners are now less afraid of the high energy bills than before, we receive good news from abroad, and turnover has been alright. The restaurant business is lucky, because people like the experience they get when eating out. One year from now I would be happy to have ended 2023 with the same results as 2022, working like we used to before the pandemic.” //