28 March 2024, Thursday, 14:33
Support
the website
Sim Sim,
Charter 97!
Categories

Market traders: Authorities lobby large businesses and continue to press on us

7
Market traders: Authorities lobby large businesses and continue to press on us

The requirement to sell Belarusian goods will be lifted from markets, second hand shops and brand shops, but it will remain mandatory for sole traders.

All small sole traders will have to sell Belarusian goods as a compulsory condition.

Charter97.org learnt it from a businessmen, a member of a commission of sole traders at the Minsk city executive committee and a member of a commission at the Ministry of Trade. He asked to remain anonymous. For the last month, the Ministry of Trade has been discussing the conditions that oblige sole traders to sell Belarusian goods.

– The proposal of the authorities provoked a controversial reaction. All payers of the fixed tax, also those working on the simplified taxation scheme, are equal when it comes to paying taxes if they sell goods at a sales area of less than 100 square metres. There's no separate category for smaller sales spaces. Sole traders must sell Belarusian goods depending on the categories of sales spaces.

The biggest problem is that the draft decree allows markets, second hand shops and brand shop not to sell Belarusian goods. Minsk's trading facilities include old and new shopping centres. New centres offer sales spaces of more than 80 square metres. Most of them are rented by companies with the Belarusian or Russian (the majority) authorised capital. Only a few sole traders work there.

– Why do we see such discrimination? Large businesses have more opportunities to sell Belarusian goods without losses.

– These shops have one trademark. It is called a monobrand shop. They offer a wide range of goods, and many goods are exported. Therefore, the Ministry of Trade proposes to allow them not to sell Belarusian goods and not to submit item lists for approval if 80% of their goods belong to the same trademark. According to current laws, an economic entity does not register the item list in executive bodies. All kinds of brand trade under one monobrand will have an opportunity not to sell Belarusian goods.

This is a strange situation. Lukashenka says about equal conditions and opportunities. On this basis, all sole traders are supposed to follow equal rules, though smaller traders don't have such turnover and premises. Many sole traders have small sales premises up to 20 square metres (at Zerkalo, Parking, Niamiha, Siluet, Zhdanovichy shopping centres). They must have a display area, a fitting room and a consumer information board in that space. We also have many people who sell goods in premises under 6 square metres! For example, at Podzemny Gorod and Impuls shopping centres and Belarus department store. Officials don't take it into account. They refer all traders to one category – “under 100 square metres”.

– Does it mean that small kiosks are supposed to sell as much Belarusian goods as a pavilion of 100 square metres?

– Yes. The Ministry of Trade says this category can sell “the minimum volume of Belarusian goods”, but many traders say they cannot afford one shelf for Belarusian goods in a 4-metre booth.

How can they remove brand shops from the list of mandatory sellers of home-made goods? This is absurd. Those who import huge lots of goods and have 80% of goods of one trademark will not sell Belarusian goods. This is absolutely clear: they are lobbying large businesses. Sole traders have a right position: we will help the country in trouble. But, please, no annexations and contributions.

– How sole traders will react to it? What do they expect?

– Sole traders don't understand this approach. We need either to differentiate traders depending on sales spaces, or to help the country with selling domestic goods, but it must be done by all traders without exclusions. There's no other way.

The authorities began to discuss this problem a month ago. There is a commission of sole traders under the aegis of the Ministry of Trade. Debates still go on. No final decision has been made so far. The latest regulatory acts say that traders have the right to approve item lists at their discretion, but the executive bodies must approve the regime of work. We are still up in the air: we cannot make item lists, because we must include Belarusians goods in them. It is unclear when the final decision will be taken. The deputy minister is on holiday now. We just wait for final proposals. It often occurs that officials adopt and sign documents without our consent and then ask why we don't follow the rules.

Write your comment 7

Follow Charter97.org social media accounts