Five Odd Bellegprom Initiatives

The head of the concern stands out not only by her "crusade" against second-hand stores.

Tatsiana Luhina headed the Bellegprom concern three years ago, having moved to Minsk from Pinsk and left the post of head of the Polesie association. During this time, she was noted for a number of controversial statements and initiatives that became the subject of heated discussion.

The udf website singled out 5 moments because of which Tatsiana Luhina was criticized in society.

The fight against second hand stores

Shortly after her appointment as the head of Bellegprom, Luhina openly stated that she intended to reduce the share of second-hand stores in the market. She justified her position by saying that outlets sell not only second-hand clothes, but also "stock products, albeit of recent years, not sold on time, not from the latest collections."

Then she suggested "if not closing, then at least removing" second-hand stores from regional, large cities, from the central streets. A year later, the government passed a decree banning second-hand shops from selling new clothes.

The society took Luhina's initiative with indignation. Given the low incomes, second-hand stores gave many people the opportunity to dress decently. Bellegprom was accused of aiming at destroying this niche instead of increasing the competitiveness of its own products.

Opening a shop with merch from Lukashenka

It is not known exactly who came up with this idea. But the fact remains — the enterprises of Bellegprom undertook to manufacture clothes with scandalous quotes from the unpopular dictator.

Luhina came to the opening of the first store in the Stolitsa shopping center and posed with pleasure against the backdrop of products. Information about the profitability of the venture is not disclosed.

The idea of a Belarusian replacement for Zara Home

Recently, Luhina said that to replace the popular Zara Home stores, Bellegprom had already developed the concept of the "Da Domu" chain, and the concern had a "colossal opportunity" to occupy a vacant niche — due to a negative attitude towards Belarus because of its complicity in the aggression against Ukraine.

"If European brands do not come to us or close their stores, of course, it opens up prospects and a huge opportunity for us to occupy those niches or those assortment positions that, for certain reasons, will leave the market. Even the Zara Home we're talking about. Today, we practically have Zara Home in Belarusian — we have developed the "Da Domu" concept, which implies everything that can be offered from the Belarusian light industry in interior, kitchen, bedroom, and dining niches," said Luhina.

Meanwhile, Zara is not going to leave the Belarusian market yet. And even if it had left, it is very difficult to imagine that Bellegprom would be able to create a high-quality analogue.

The idea of supplying Belarusian carpets to Tajikistan

On October 18, Luhina announced that a problematic issue with the supply of Belarusian carpets to Tajikistan should be resolved in the coming weeks, which is hindered by a local 30% import duty. According to the official, her initiative was supported by Lukashenka, who turned to Emomali Rahmon.

The idea to protect domestic producers is commendable, but Luhina's hopes are not entirely clear. Tajikistan is a poor country, even in comparison with Belarus, it is impossible to make significant money there. And recently, Tajikistan has been trying to revive its own carpet production, so it is not easy to explain why this country should make an exception for Belarusian suppliers.

Explanation why Belarusian clothing can only be expensive

Two weeks ago, Luhina made her last resonant statement at the moment. She stated that the Belarusian clothing allegedly cannot be cheap, and the reasons for this are design, quality, and reliability.

Moreover, after traveling abroad, Luhina came to the conclusion that Belarusian clothes are almost the best in the world.

"And all the same, we come back to the fact that in terms of price / quality there are no better than Belarusian manufacturers," said Luhina.

However, the Bellegprom CEO gave no explanations whatsoever on why then in Belarus they are fighting with second-hand outlets, and trying not to let competitors enter the market.