Yesterday, the deputy head of Perm, Vladimir Biryukov, said that over the next year the mayor's office plans to liquidate the majority of the city's mini-markets. Officials believe that shopping arcades should not spoil the appearance of the city; moreover, mini-markets, unlike large shopping centers, do not fit into the general plan of Perm. The mayor's office does not rule out that over time the Central Market will also be closed and moved to the Kama Valley. The process of closing city mini-markets, initiated by the mayor's office last year, was accompanied by scandals from the very beginning. In January 2003, the head of Perm signed a decree according to which the Kuibyshevsky mini-market was to cease operating in June last year. The site in the city center on which it was located was allocated by the mayor's office to the Avstrom Construction Company OJSC for the construction of a residential building or entertainment complex. In an effort to prevent mass protests by traders, the city government several times extended the operation of the market, which was eventually closed only at the end of last year.
A similar situation arose this year with the Stakhanovsky mini-market. He found himself on the way to construct a bridge that would connect two districts of the regional center - Industrial and Sverdlovsky. Back in October, the Department of Property Relations of the Perm Administration warned the market tenant (Bereg CJSC) that the contract with it would not be renewed for the next year.
Entrepreneurs protested, claiming that if the market were closed, about 1 thousand people would lose their jobs. The head of the property relations department, Vladimir Biryukov, had to hold several meetings with angry traders and residents of the Stakhanovsky microdistrict, but the concessions from the authorities turned out to be meager. As Vladimir Biryukov announced yesterday, the mini-market will operate until December 31. “The contractors are already ready to start work (2.5 million rubles from the regional budget have already been spent on preparing for the construction of the road - Kommersant ), but we have met the entrepreneurs halfway - we will allow them to complete the deal until the new year. And when there is a lull in trade, we will remove the pavilions by January 15,” said Vladimir Biryukov. At the same time, the vice mayor made a reservation that we are not talking about liquidation, but about a gradual transfer of the market.
The mayor's office was not convinced by the arguments that the Stakhanovsky market is one of the cheapest in the city. “Under market conditions, prices on a single market cannot suddenly be lower than on other markets,” says Mr. Biryukov. Moreover, Mr. Biryukov believes that the presence of a mini-market did not allow grocery stores to develop in the area. Now the city consumer market committee intends to discuss with the Raduga and LG centers the possibility of converting them into grocery stores, and to open a Veteran store within two months. The same can be done with the “half-dying”, according to Vladimir Biryukov, cafe “Dreams”, which the vice-mayor prefers to call “Tears”.
To completely relocate the mini-market, the mayor’s office offered traders sites in the Kama Valley and at the intersection of Sviyazev and Leonov streets in the Nagorny microdistrict. The entrepreneurs agreed to the second option. But, as Vladimir Biryukov noted, simply providing a plot of land to a tenant would be a violation of the law; a competition should be held. Therefore, the vice-mayor “took it upon his soul” and decided to temporarily move the market and at the same time prepare for the competition.
Over time, all mini-markets in the city will be eliminated. As Mr. Biryukov explained, they exist only temporarily and will be eliminated as they do not fit into the general plan of the city. Already next year, instead of the market at the intersection of Kuibyshev and Belinsky streets, as well as the market in the Krokhalev microdistrict, construction of buildings will begin. Vladimir Biryukov did not rule out that in the future the Central Market will also be closed - perhaps it will be moved to the Kama Valley, where two free buses will transport buyers.
In addition to mini-markets, the mayor’s office is going to soon begin the liquidation of small retail trade facilities that have “proliferated in their time.” Several identical kiosks within a radius of 50 meters are, according to the vice-mayor, “an excess that should not exist.” “Markets must be civilized. In other cities there are shopping complexes. Do we either want to live at the level of the village of Uzyukino, or do we still take a major step forward?” – asked the vice mayor.
As Viktor Goldobin, director of Bereg CJSC, explained to Kommersant, after the Stakhanov mini-market is moved to the Nagorny microdistrict, the number of visitors will decrease. In this sense, the Kama Valley is even less attractive for a tenant. “For some reason, all the markets are being removed. And at the same time. There is reason to think,” says Mr. Goldobin.
ANASTASIA KOSTINA

Kommersant (Perm) No. 234 dated 12/15/2004

Mini-markets do not fit into the general plan of Perm