Iryna Yaskevich: Point of no return in relations with market traders crossed

Market traders became hostages of both the economic crisis in Belarus and the policy carried out by the government.

Market seller and activist from Vitsebsk Iryna Yaskevich said it in an interview with charter97.org.

– What new steps should market traders expect from the authorities in the near future? What do they think about it?

– I think market traders have never been so disintegrated in their attempts to survive. The new certification rules allow punishing 80% of market sellers. We will also have to install point-of-sale terminals. They offer rather cheap POS terminals now, but the idea is that we must carry out a certain number of operations thought them. A seller will have to pay 130,000 rubles for the cash register that controls his or her proceeds and additional 100,000 for the terminal that customers will never need. Cheap terminals process operations slowly, and customers don't want to wait for 10-15 minutes. Market traders expect taxes to be raised in July and the coefficient for remaining goods to be increased from 2.5 to 3. POS terminals and the 48th decree on fines for the goods that don't comply with the technical regulations of the Customs Unions – this is what we will have. I cannot say people are optimistic. Some sellers understand it will be impossible to work by new rules without violations and think about closing their business. The certificates that Russia issues are often made in Photoshop and cannot pass a check. Let's recall a story about Prestizh firm that sells “papers”. Many traders are just digging their own grave. They say, “I'll drop everything and quit if they come with a check.” We expect nothing good.

– How has the economic crisis in the country influenced market traders?

– People do not have money to buy consumer goods. Sellers' debt for utility services is growing. They must pay rental fees strictly on schedule, but utility bills can be paid later. Market traders are looking for loopholes to prolong their existence for some time. Wages of 2.5 million are considered to be good now. Amid crisis, both we and state-owned shops lack customers and record a decrease in revenues. Like all people, we take loans to build homes and educate our children. Like all people, we must pay them. But our working conditions are significantly worse than those of other people.

There's always a point of no return. We already crossed it. Market traders are hostages in the situation that was created in the country. The number of sellers is decreasing. The people who can think and count quit business and leave the country. Even pensioners stop working, though they don't need to pay contributions to the Social Protection Fund. Hundreds of sellers organised a strike in March, but today's situation is on the verge of anarchy: all are trying to invent something to survive, controlling agencies don't know how to check us due to inconsistencies in laws. A part of people can be prosecuted for forged documents, but this is not their guilt that Russia issues such “certificates”. Russian firms often replace Polish labels and offer Customs Union's “documents” for the goods.

– What can be done to attract public attention to problems of market traders?

– We should remind people that though the number of market traders is about 20,000, we are still an important group of the country's population. Let's stop dividing our society and pit citizens against one another. Let's stop seeing only tax payers in market traders. Twenty thousand people feed their families and don't ask anything from the state budget for social needs or modernisation. We hope society will be wise enough not to throw 20,000 families into the street.