Market sellers: We pay half of tax and ready to strike

Market sellers are preparing to protest.

Traders of Hrodna markets say they don't know what to expect from the future. The authorities don't say clearly if it will be possible to work without certificates after December 1. Market sellers can't receive certificates under new rules, Radio Svaboda reports.

“We pay the double coefficient of tax to import goods from third countries. It is one million. It allows us not to have invoices. We wanted to obtain certificates, we were ready to do it, but they refused to accept our goods for the certification procedure because we don't have invoices,” a trader at the Hrodna market say.

The problem is that invoices are needed to get a certificate, but sellers don't have invoices. “People from Vietnam, China or Russia don't give us invoices because they don't have them,” a market seller explains. “This mess scares me. I want to work, but it is impossible to prepare a package of documents. No one knows anything,” the seller says.

Market traders think the authorities look for an additional source of revenues to the country's budget. “It seems the authorities don't need our certificates and invoices. They just need money,” they say.

Market sellers are ready to start a strike after new rules take force. They warned the authorities some days ago that the situation at markets was strained. Market sellers say they can either violate the law and work or protest.

“There are rumours that strikes will be held across Belarus. We will pay taxes, but only a half. Let's see. We can have a strike. What else should we do?” a seller at the Hrodna market says.

We remind that thorough checks often followed by seizure of goods began at Belarusian markets on November 1. It became known yesterday that the Minsk city authorities disrupted a forum of small businessmen scheduled for November 25 to discuss the new trading rules that take force next month. Starting December 1, market vendors are not allowed selling goods without documents confirming their quality and safety in accordance with the Customs Union's technical regulations on safety of light industry products.

The Customs Union's technical regulations already provoked protests. Market vendors held strikes in late June and early July saying that the technical regulations put them on the verge of survival, because they oblige small businessmen to carry out an expensive certification procedure.