"They Tell Me That I Have to Stick Information from the Box on Every Apple, on Every Tomato"

The sellers from the stalls told about the "binding" on the terminals.

The owners of fruit and vegetable stalls in Minsk were ordered to install cash registers and terminals by July 1. The very idea of transparent trade does not cause any contradictions among entrepreneurs - they are ready to purchase the necessary equipment. They are confused by something else: last year, the city authorities wanted to close all the stalls in the city, as the individual entrepreneurs say, “they were barely recaptured.” And now, checks from district administrations and sanitary stations have become frequent to sellers. Entrepreneurs fear that they may invest in expensive equipment, and they will want to close them again at the end of the season, tut.by writes.

The war with and for stalls with vegetables and fruits in Minsk has been going on for several years. Officials repeatedly threatened to close them, then left them, presented various requirements to the appearance of retail outlets, and so on. In some areas, the stalls were gone. Now there are about 150 stalls left in the city, although there were more than 250 4 years ago.

Now for the survivors, they came up with another prerequisite for continuing work - to install cash registers and summing terminals. Moreover, this norm was prescribed in an additional agreement to the lease agreement.

- Initially, back in February, the city authorities wanted to remove the stalls altogether and return the folding tents that were 10 years ago. Entrepreneurs began to object: this, besides being inconvenient, is also unsafe, - says Anatol Shumchenka, chairman of the RPO Perspektiva. - Then they made a supplementary agreement to the lease agreement about these terminals that they need to be installed before March 1. We spoke in favor of meeting and discussing all these issues. The meeting took place. There were officials from the Minsk City Executive Committee, a deputy of the City Council, representatives of the real estate center. The conversation was quite successful, everyone understood each other. Entrepreneurs were given a delay in installing terminals until July 1. They even recalculated their rent for March, because in March there was a subzero temperature, and people did not work most of the days.

The next day, according to Anatol Shumchenka, checks on the stalls started out of nowhere.

- Entrepreneurs began to call me and report that the real estate center is moving and measuring retail places. But this is nonsense. Every day a sanitary station comes and takes the products for inspection. One entrepreneur had as many as 5 checks in a couple of days!

They began to ask about the labeling: they want entrepreneurs to glue stickers on berries, tomatoes, and other labels indicating the manufacturer, country of origin, storage conditions, and so on. All entrepreneurs have certificates for their products, they buy goods in Belarus, in Tabory. What else do you need?

The words of the chairman of “Perspektiva” were confirmed by one of the entrepreneurs who has more than 10 stalls in Minsk.

- They (inspectors. - Ed.) call it monitoring, but the essence of this does not change - they collect at this time a variety of our violations. Let's be frank, if you go to any store, to any shopping facility, everything will not be there, as required by sanitary standards, fire safety rules, and so on. Although we try to do everything, they can always find something to complain about, - says Natallia. - This monitoring began on Friday. Before that, the district administration came to look, then the sanitary station came. They check the appearance and passport of the trade facility, all kinds of other documents. In a day, they could come in one place and check it all three times.

“Do you have any documents for the goods? Do you have any certificates? Okay. Why isn't there a sticker there? " - tells the entrepreneur how the dialogue with the inspectors goes.

- I have all the stickers on the boxes. I don't put boxes on the counter. According to the norms, I should not store garbage, so I take out the boxes. The administration comes to us and demands order. They tell me that I have to photocopy the information from the box and stick it on every apple, on every tomato, - the interlocutor continues. - In general, people can imagine what our turnover is and how quickly what is on the counter is changing? One supplier today, another tomorrow. All information is in the documents for the goods. How do they imagine re-gluing these pieces of paper?

Natalia says that she is not against installing terminals, even for. But entrepreneurs, not only her, have many questions and concerns about this.

- I am for complete transparency of work. The terminals are beneficial to us, they will increase the turnover. Our question is a little different. We have always been considered street peddlers because we are not connected to any communications. Including the power grid. According to tax legislation, the terminal cannot operate without a cash register. The cash register used to be fairly easy to install. Today, SKNO is installed in it. SKNO eats up the device's charge, it is enough for a maximum of one and a half hours of work. That is, you need to look for some way out - buy batteries, put cars nearby. It seems like they found a way out - smart cash registers. But they are not cheap, one costs 1,500 rubles, excluding service. And even considering this, we do not mind installing them. If we had a guarantee that we would continue to work. After all, there is no certainty that we will not be closed tomorrow. This can be, at best, before the first frost, 5-6 months. It's a shame that any of our violations is considered as a reason for closing. It seems to me that there are penalties for punishing violations. In any store, you can find a kilometer of violations, but no one is closed.

Anatol Shumchenka says that recently all entrepreneurs who trade from stalls, in the light of recent events - inspections and other things - are nervous.

- At the same time, there are a lot of illegal sellers in Minsk who sell bacon, herring, meat, and so on from the floor. And sanitary stations are only concerned with entrepreneurs, they do not see illegal sellers at close range. Doubts are rising that this year the authorities will do everything to dig up some violations and still close the stalls, - Shumchenka suggests. - Two years ago, we developed a whole plan to legalize all sellers, and due to this, the city's budget was replenished. All places where illegal sellers are standing can be auctioned. One seat can cost anywhere from $ 5,000 to $ 30,000, plus monthly rent, plus taxes. And there are more than a hundred such places in the city. In new areas with new buildings, there are no stalls, but there are illegal sellers. In the Kastrychnitski and Savetski districts, there is not a single stall at all, they all closed. But illegal trade is flourishing. The question arises, what is the interest of officials to “bully” a legal small business and turn a blind eye to illegal trade? What was the interest in closing all the trays last year?

The chairman of Perspektiva notes that where there are legal sellers from stalls, there are almost no illegal sellers because the people themselves are driving them out.

- Do you remember how kiosks were removed from bus stops 10 years ago? Now the same kiosks have appeared, only now there are "Tabakerki." Isn't this the main interest, so that later some “Fruktiki” will appear in the city, - Shumchenka asks.