Market traders: We won't work from July 1

Sole traders gave an ultimatum to the authorities.

Sole traders working at markets and shopping centres in Vitebsk didn't work on June 5 protesting against new rules. They also sent an appeal to Lukashenka and the Council of Ministers on June 8.

The authors of the appeal, sole traders from Vitebsk, recalled that in the 1990s, “market traders saved the country from empty counters, filled consumer markets with various goods at available prices”. “Sole traders are on the verge of closing today. Regulatory documents of different ministries conflict with one another, decree No. 222 does not clarify the economic activity of sole traders. The taxation agency allows selling the stock without documents, but the standartisation and hygiene agencies do not allow it. We don't understand what is going on and appeal to you with proposals,” the appeal says.

Firstly, sole traders think self-employed businessman selling goods in the Customs Union member states should have equal conditions.

They also want national certificates to work within the Customs Union.

The authors of the appeal propose giving sole traders the opportunity to “sell, transport and keep the goods they have bring in the country under previous regulatory documents without additional conditions in accordance with the stock list and without setting a period for selling”. They want to pay the fixed tax with the multiplying coefficients without additional taxes.

Sole traders turn attention of the authorities to their problems, try to find a compromise and create real conditions for their work, the appeal says. “We won't be able to work from Jule if a compromise is not reached,” they wrote.

The Vitesbk sole traders end their appeal with the words: “We are for available prices for all population groups.”

Iryna Yaskevich, one of the authors of the appeal and head of the organising committee to create the trade union Together, says Vitebsk market traders will submit tax returns with zero income next week. If the authorities don't react, sole traders will stop working on July 1.