After a month and a half of strict quarantine in Ukraine, many small businesses began to lose their nerves. Merchants and entrepreneurs took to the streets to protest, and the heads of several regions turned to Kyiv with a demand “to begin to weaken quarantine from 1 May ". Such appeals were made in Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson, Chernivtsi, etc.. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Wednesday will consider the issue of, to allow food markets across the country to operate. Correspondent Federal News Agency reports from the Ukrainian capital.
As it became clear yesterday, presented by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "Shmygal's plan" for the gradual withdrawal of the country from quarantine, calculated until July, did not suit everyone. So, Ukrainian small businessmen, who are on the verge of complete ruin, demanded that restrictions be lifted 1 May. Otherwise, thousands of desperate entrepreneurs threaten the authorities with new, "anti-quarantine" Maidan.
Ukrainian farmers, who have grown their first crop in greenhouses and cannot sell it due to market closures, have already begun to close the roads. Small-scale wholesale traders in Kherson were the first to fail, one of the poorest regions of the Independent. Tired of quarantine and finally impoverished, 26 April, local merchants and farmers blocked traffic across the Antonovsky bridge across the Dnieper (the only decent road, by which you can get to Kherson from the center of the country. - Note. FAN). Formally, businessmen protested against the closure of the wholesale vegetable market in the village of Malye Kopani, near Kherson.
But the farmers were really outraged by the fact, that large retail chains freely import their goods into the region, and local producers "can't sell a single cucumber". One of the farmers even brought in a van and threw his cucumbers on the road, that have nowhere to go. Kherson farmers demanded, to power, if it can't open markets, organized the purchase of seasonal goods from them - but at affordable prices. After a couple of hours, the police managed to persuade the traders to disperse., but, as the saying goes, "trigger" has already been pressed.
Following the Kherson residents, farmers in the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions expressed their dissatisfaction with the protracted ban on trade. They issued a statement to the authorities, in which they stated:
"Those of us, who grew their vegetables in greenhouses, have to throw them out by the ton. Dealers do not buy vegetables from us, because they don't know, Will they be able to sell them somewhere?. We have to take vegetables to roadside ditches, let them rot there. The state does not deal with this problem at all., and sales do not help to establish ".
In Chernivtsi, merchants from all markets of the city came to the City Council, demanding that they be allowed to work under quarantine. And in the Vinnitsa region, in the city of Tulchin, their colleagues staged a "warning action" under the city council building with the same demands.
“Pressure from below” immediately had an effect on local authorities. Yesterday the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv urged the Cabinet of Ministers to once again allow small and medium-sized businesses to work.
"It's time to rethink the requirements, and let small businesses run. The life of the country and the city depends on this decision.”, - he said.
Martsinkiv clarified, who considers the situation with coronavirus “good”, allowing food markets and shops to operate. However, the head of the region was very cunning - according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, Ivano-Frankivsk region is one of the leaders in the incidence of coronavirus. On 27 April registered there 761 case, of them 47 Death.
Also, the head of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Council said about the need to allow small businesses to work. Svyatoslav Oleinik.
“Small businesses need to open as soon as possible. Due to quarantine, people have run out of money. We will determine the mode of operation, compatible with the quarantine regime - maintaining distance in retail premises, protective equipment, etc.”, - he said.
Also, the mayor of Lviv asked to allow the markets to work. Andrey Sadovy.
However, in Ukraine, by the end of April, there was an extremely difficult situation not only for farmers, but also for tens of thousands of other small service businessmen, which were forced to close due to quarantine. Yesterday, several associations of entrepreneurs demanded that the quarantine be lifted from 1 May, otherwise they threaten the authorities with Maidan. Against the backdrop of this tension in Kyiv, they began to declare, that “quarantine can be lifted even faster”.
I.e, as it appears, threats of protests have already brought real results. After all, tens of thousands of Ukrainian entrepreneurs are unlikely to survive another month or two of quarantine, which the government insisted. Especially, that for large businesses, concessions have been in place for a long time, which annoys even more small and medium businessmen. Looking at the reactions in the regions, in the Office of the President yesterday they announced that they would consider the possibility of opening 280 covered food markets throughout Ukraine (although earlier they wanted to open one of the last).. And the Cabinet confirmed, that the issue will be considered at a meeting on Wednesday, to start launching markets before the end of the week.
Kyiv analysts and political scientists held an online conference on the topic, is the occurrence of another, this time "anti-quarantine" Maidan in the country. According to an economic expert Vsevoloda Stepaniuk, “if the government does nothing, social tension in the regions, and in Kyiv itself will grow rapidly”.
“In Ukraine, the traditions of riots are still quite fresh.. people remember, that they can take to the streets and “solve” their problems by putting pressure on the authorities. There are dozens of regional small business associations in the country, that brings together thousands of entrepreneurs. And this is a very organized class of people., who is able to protect their rights, grossly violated by the state, Stepaniuk said. Those people will be especially active, who worked for the domestic market of the country. They grew greenhouse vegetables all winter, and now faced with the fact of a complete cessation of work and bankruptcy. They have nowhere to sell their goods - street trading, markets and wholesale warehouses are closed for them. I think, protests in the regions will quickly grow and expand - due to the fact that, that Ukrainians will join them, just lost their jobs. This process can push the authorities to end the quarantine.”, - said Vsevolod Stepaniuk.
The expert explained, why protests against closed markets began in southern Ukraine.
"Across the south of the country, local ports are delivering essential goods, early fruits and vegetables are delivered to the center from the southern regions. Agrarian season starts a month earlier in the south, than in Kyiv or Chernihiv regions. I.e, the season has started, and nowhere to sell products. The same applies to clothing and footwear merchants., wholesale and small wholesale. People are losing, they have a lot of obligations and huge debts. And people need to feed their families.”, - said the economist.
In its turn, candidate of political sciences Rostislav Balaban said during an online conference - “if the authorities do not open markets in the coming days, then the Ukrainian farming business will go bankrupt”.
"The reason for the beginning riots among farmers, who cannot sell their vegetables - an acute lack of communication between the authorities and society and business. Small and medium-sized businesses are tired of waiting for "weather by the sea", and is sounding the alarm. Kyiv now has potatoes from Turkey, apples from Poland, but on the delivery of goods from Kherson, the authorities cannot provide logistics, Balaban points out. — The result of the inept work of the authorities with the agricultural business is a constant increase in food prices. The authorities' lack of attention to manufacturers is a systemic problem. This is a blow to the economy as a whole., because power destroys the domestic producer, and thereby reorient the country to imports”, political scientist explained.
Balaban also called on the authorities to open markets and engage in, finally, anti-crisis regulation of the economy, and not lobbying of individual companies.
"Finally, a grocery market is not much different from a supermarket. Need to set deadlines, and open them. In this case, it is worth consulting with doctors - if there is a risk of trading in enclosed spaces, so, we need to make markets in open areas. But the main thing is that the Ukrainian manufacturer could survive and deliver the goods to citizens.. Till, Unfortunately, "group" 95 quarter "in power, looks like, incapable of seriously engaging in economics and reformism”, - says Balaban.
The economic expert turned out to be even more radical Yuri Gavrilechko.
“If restrictive measures are extended, then we can all expect, anything - up to food riots and the collapse of the country. It is already clear, that a large part of the citizens, whose work is related to ensuring the food security of Ukraine, will be left without funds. Or - already left without funds, Gavrilechko says. - This means, that in autumn we will get a rise in prices for vegetables, fruit, meat and milk. These products are provided to Ukraine by private farms., which may already be seriously affected by the adoption of the law on the sale of land. And here, like snow on the head - quarantine restrictions, who did not let them sell their products on time. Plus - because of the bans, they simply did not have time to plant something. And that, what is not planted now, will not be harvested in autumn. therefore, regardless of the development of the situation, we can already count on the shortage of part of Ukrainian agricultural products”.
Gavrilechko also predicted, What are the consequences of a sharp rise in unemployment in Ukraine?, observed today.
“Many citizens of working age, with a sharp decrease in income or their zeroing, there are a lot of options, what should they do now. So that, soon we can get a surge in criminal activity of citizens. According to the laws of economics, 1% growth in unemployment gives over the next month an increase in crimes against property on 2%. This is a stable global experience, it does not depend on the current crisis. Therefore, the security forces, yes to all of us, gotta prepare for the worst", — concludes the economist.
Author: Vasily Taran
