In Postavy, issues of increasing the competitiveness of consumer cooperation were discussed

According to the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail Myasnikovich, who took part in the meeting, an ambitious issue was put on the agenda – increasing the efficiency of serving the rural population. This topic must be considered systematically and comprehensively, from the perspective of the work of the Councils of Deputies, whom the population has delegated to solve their problems.

– The Council of the Republic must promote the development of regions; a number of Presidential decrees aimed at stimulating business activity are directed towards this. These are fundamental documents that allow us to talk about new directions of the country's socio-economic development. They are in line with the spirit of the decisions of the V All-Belarusian People's Congress, – emphasized the speaker.

As explained by the Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic for Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, Chairman of the Council for Interaction of Local Self-Government Bodies, Alexander Popkov, such a meeting of parliamentarians and consumer society leaders was held for the first time.

In matters of improving the quality of service for the rural population, deputies and local authorities must work in conjunction with the main service provider, which is currently consumer cooperation.

– About 63 thousand people work in this system, it accounts for 7% of the total turnover in Belarus. So far, only consumer cooperation is involved in serving residents of remote, sparsely populated villages. It operates at a loss, but performs an important social function. Today, the industry faces the task of increasing operational efficiency, creating processing workshops, opening new jobs, and reducing product costs, – noted Alexander Popkov.

It is no coincidence that Postavy was chosen as the venue for the meeting. The local consumer cooperative is one of the best in the country, and it serves as an example of how consumer cooperation can fulfill its tasks and operate profitably.

Before the serious discussion, the participants visited the branded store of the consumer cooperative "Rodny Kut" and became convinced that the prices for basic goods here can easily compete with major retail chains such as "Evroopt," "Korona," and "Sosedi." Moreover, most of the products are locally produced.

The local sausage workshop has achieved 100% meat processing, produces up to 3 tons of products per shift, and offers 100 varieties. The Postavy producers are the only ones in Belarus to have successfully entered the Estonian market with their sausage products.

The products from the pickling and salting workshop are in high demand. On the day of the parliamentarians' visit, trucks loaded with sauerkraut were being dispatched to Arkhangelsk, and from there to Sakhalin. Natural apple juice is supplied to "Korona" stores.

Pavel Topuzidis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Tabak-Invest" LLC, which owns this retail chain, emphasized that retail chains and consumer cooperation can and should be partners.

Over the past 5 years, the number of employed working-age people in agriculture in the Vitebsk region has decreased by a quarter. This has added to the concerns of the region's consumer cooperation, which today performs more social functions than commercial ones and operates at a loss.

"As a result, there is a shortage of own working capital for better servicing the rural population and developing consumer cooperation organizations," noted Anzhelika Nikitina, Chairperson of the Economy Committee of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

To stabilize the financial and economic situation, the board of the regional consumer union, together with the regional executive committee, has developed and approved a plan of measures to improve the efficiency of consumer cooperation for 2018-2020, which provides for the optimization of the organizational structure and defines the directions for the development of industries.

The most profitable of these are wholesale trade, industrial production, procurement activities, and export. It is planned to create inter-district consumer societies based on territorial affiliation, which will allow for the concentration of monetary and commodity flows.

The Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, gave examples of the active participation of local self-government bodies in creating new jobs and opening production facilities, which directly affects the improvement of the living standards of the rural population and the economic stability of the regions.

Many participants of the meeting spoke about the need for the state to at least partially compensate the consumer cooperation for expenses related to serving the population in remote and sparsely populated villages.

Sometimes, mobile shops have to travel up to 70 km to bring products to one or two residents. In just one year, as noted by the Chairman of the Board of Belkoopsoyuz, Valery Ivanov, mobile shops across the country have driven 170 million km.

The operational director of the Euroopt retail chain, Vladlen Atroshkin, presented his vision of the issue of serving the rural population. In particular, he noted that the company is building a constructive dialogue with Belkoopsoyuz. There is an agreement that Euroopt will fully take over two districts, one of which is Orshansky. The company has mobile stores, "E-dostavka" (E-delivery) is operating, and one of the major players in the retail market is capable of proving that business in rural areas can be profitable.

Time will tell how true this is, but for now, the most universal model remains the system of consumer cooperation. This structure serves 35% of the country's population and produces a quarter of the total bread output. The share of consumer cooperation in forming republican stabilization funds for vegetables and potatoes for the inter-seasonal period is 20%.

Despite the difficulties, Belkoopsoyuz is among the top ten largest taxpayers. All this indicates that consumer cooperation has significant potential, is in demand locally, and the socio-economic development of the regions largely depends on its successful operation.

Summing up the meeting, Mikhail Myasnikovich noted the need to develop cooperation and collaboration among all participants in rural services. Competition in this area will only be beneficial. Currently, many retail chains strive to enter large settlements and district centers where the population's income level is higher.

Mikhail Vladimirovich emphasized that one should not forget about the residents of hamlets and remote villages. These issues should be addressed, including by the Councils of Deputies and executive committees.

The speaker also noted the need to develop a strategy for serving the rural population and to consider how the state can help those who perform an important social function – caring for residents of remote and sparsely populated villages.

Tatyana Pasternak, Photos by Dmitry Osipov, "Vitebskiye vesti".