Mature on the "indigenous"

Rosstat notes the recovery of market activity

This year's early harvest seems to have corrected the negative consequences of the introduction of the “new market policy” in Russia , which does not imply the participation of foreigners in trade. With the beginning of the “high” season for the sale of vegetables and fruits, the situation in the markets, which were empty in the spring, stabilized. And it is possible that government leaders, who previously were not inclined to dramatize the situation behind the counters, will refuse to regularly monitor prices and the number of traders. As Elena Sedova, head of the trade and services statistics department at Rosstat, told Vremya Novostey yesterday, the department is already thinking about canceling the weekly monitoring of retail markets introduced since the beginning of the year and switching to regular monthly sections.

Intensive monitoring was required by the authorities after the introduction at the beginning of the year, first of a 40 percent limit, and then of a complete ban on foreigners working behind the counter. Officials wanted to keep their finger on the pulse rather to reassure themselves - since numerous proposals to return the right to trade to non-citizens were ignored by the White House. Even at the moment when in April Rosstat recorded a sharp decline in trading activity in retail markets. Moreover, statisticians noted that the reason for the April reduction in the level of use of retail places (for example, in the markets of Moscow by 8%, Arkhangelsk - by 10%, St. Petersburg - by 2%, Tambov region - by 2%) was precisely the complete ban for trade for foreigners. In the capital during this period, every fourth place in agricultural markets and every third in non-food markets were empty; in other large cities of Russia, trading floors were half empty. In addition, April was remembered for the highest price growth since the beginning of the year in the markets of most cities observed by statistics. This was caused, according to Rosstat, “both by seasonal factors and by a reduction in the supply of goods after the departure of certain categories of sellers.”

But already in May in a number of regions, according to statisticians, the beginning of the “vegetable season” provoked an increase in the occupancy of retail places, which by June reached the capital.

According to Ms. Sedova, in the country as a whole, about 80% of market stalls are now occupied, which is even 10% more than in January. Since accounting is carried out not on peak weekends, but on weekdays, Rosstat considers this level to be sufficient and with prospects for growth.

The results of the latest study of 59 markets in 16 regions of the country showed that the activity of sellers in the markets of such large consumption centers as Moscow (the number of occupied counters increased over the week from 76 to 87%) and Novosibirsk (from 79 to 81%) is growing. A significant dispersion in a number of regions (in the universal markets of the Tambov region, for example, 28% of places are filled, in Bryansk - 41%, while in Makhachkala - 97%, and in Lipetsk even 100%) statistics are associated with the difference in consumer activity. And the slight reduction in the occupancy of retail spaces in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories may even be explained by the vagaries of the weather and the unfortunate timing of the cutoff - on weekends, market activity there is more noticeable.

The head of the Department of Trade and Services Statistics of Rosstat, Elena Sedova, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, did not deny that such a “stable picture,” which should please government leaders and other defenders of the economic interests of the indigenous population, has developed thanks to the activation of gardeners reaping their first harvests . Thus, apparently, it was summer residents who significantly improved the statistics in Moscow, where the number of private traders increased by as much as 40%, Lipetsk (by 10%), Omsk (by 7%) and Novosibirsk (by 6%). But peasants and farmers are apparently not satisfied with the new terms of trade everywhere. For example, in Bryansk and Stavropol, even promises to reserve 50% of the places for them could not lure farmers to the market - the actual use of counters by “indigenous” peasants there decreased within a week from 38 to 25% and from 21 to 11%, respectively.

Moscow expects that the influx of agricultural producers from the regions will increase - the “vegetable season” is just beginning. As Alexander Kovalev, Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship, told Vremya Novostey, the harvest season really met the expectations of the city authorities. “The favorable trends are certainly related to seasonal conditions. We predicted that places at the city's agricultural markets would fill up more when the harvest began to ripen in the Moscow region, Mr. Kovalev said. “That’s how it happened.” However, he believes that the consciousness of Russian producers has also changed, who have begun to get used to the new market rules and are convinced that they are “serious and here to stay.” Thus, according to him, the places reserved by the city for domestic producers are increasingly in demand by regional farmers, “who have tested the capital’s demand at the so-called weekend fairs.”

It is possible, however, that with the end of the fruitful season, statisticians will once again have to intensify monitoring of the markets. After all, Russian legislators are also very prolific in making rash decisions. Recently, the State Duma had to amend the law on the regulation of retail markets in order to give regional authorities additional time to reorganize the trading system, which implies stricter specialization of sites, the creation of special management companies for markets and, as a result, promising an increase in the cost of rent for retail space. In addition, “the topic of restoring order in the markets,” according to the speaker of the lower house of parliament Boris Gryzlov, is not yet closed. Yesterday, Mr. Gryzlov recalled that State Duma deputies are preparing to adopt amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses in the second reading, increasing fines for ignoring trading rules in markets. In particular, for infringing on the rights of domestic producers, installing unauthorized retail premises and trading without a safety passport, officials of market management companies will be punished with a fine of 5 to 20 thousand rubles, and legal entities - from 100 to 500 thousand rubles.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO