Photo fact: How to mask empty shelves in shop

A state-owned food store creates the appearance of a wide variety of products.

Our reader Barys Samkovich from the town of Dubrouna (the Vitebsk region) sent a photo.

“I went to a shop to buy sour cream. I have been going to this shop for a year and a half and have never seen anything like that. The shop belongs to the state-owned company Belkoopsoyuz. I talked to shop assistants. They said the company has no money to pay bills for goods, because earnings go to the state budget,” he writes.

The shelves in the photo are not empty technically, but few dairy products are arranged in such a way to create the appearance of a wide range of products.