“On Monday it will reach Lukashenko”: what the audit of a village store in Surovnya showed

When faith and hope for a wide range of produce in a rural store dried up, Love comes to the rescue. In the network a few months ago, a video of a resident of the village of Surovni was infected: in the lens there are empty shelves and refrigerators in the sel-store and the lack of essential products. How to solve a difficult food problem and did residents have an alternative? And what does this have to do with the game of “broken phone”? The film crew of the author’s project “On Monday it will reach Lukashenko” conducted its audit in Surovnya. Details in the new edition of the TV project, released on October 12 in the evening edition of the TV channel “Belarus 1”. Bread is the head, says the people. What do you do when there is no bread? Then comes Love. Not a new reading of the old proverb, but a new tiktok comes from the village of Surovni, Shumilinsky district. Underneath it are thousands of comments asking, “Is this possible in Belarus?” A resident of this village Lyubov on Wednesday, August 26, came to the selmart for food, and returned with a resonant information: no sugar, no tea, or even, sorry, toilet paper.

The original appeal, recorded and published in TikTok, contained the following text:

- Dear Alexander Grigorievich! We, the residents of Surovni village of Shumilin district of Vitebsk region, appeal to you with a request. Help us. In our store there are empty refrigerators, no chicken, no toilet paper, chocolates, tea, coffee. Shumilino is thirty kilometers away. Of course, there are private shops and everything is there. But we can't get there. Please help us, we're in a lot of pain.

The topic of trade in the countryside was repeatedly heard at meetings in the Palace of Independence. The legislation was also updated in August. Looking far ahead, the problem was solved the next day. But was that really the case? Are they really missing everything they need? We will understand the new series of the project “On Monday it will reach Lukashenko”.

Stationary shops in the countryside, according to the law, are located in those settlements where the population is at least 200 people. In the village of Surovni at the moment lives a little less, but the shop comes tenants from nearby villages. Selmag does not work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but works on weekends. Love came shopping on Wednesday and drew attention: there are no essential goods on the shelves.

- Queues are often in the store? – asked the journalist from the author of the video, a resident of the village of Surovni Lyubov.

- There are no big queues because we don’t have a lot of people. But people come and buy, she said.

When asked by a journalist about whether there is enough in the assortment, the woman replied in the affirmative that everything is enough:

- And juices, vegetables, fruits - all of good quality. We're happy.

- And why then recorded tiktok? – asked the journalist from the author of the video.

The woman noticed that then all these products were not:

- We are very, very happy and grateful that we were heard and have everything.

To clarifying the journalist’s question about why they did not immediately call other instances, but immediately recorded an appeal to the President to TikTok, the woman noted that they called, but they were not heard there. But after the publication of the video, the issue of shortages of food and other goods was resolved in a day.

- On Wednesday, the video was published, on Thursday it was a day off at the store, and on Friday everything was brought in. Everything has changed for the better since then. There are no problems, there is enough. Today I bought fish pollock, potatoes (I want to make mashed potatoes), butter, sour cream, cottage cheese. There is no problem now, everything is there.

The local resident in an interview with the journalist also emphasized that she does not consider herself a star, while the villagers thank her for the published video and voiced the problem at that time.

- Did you see yourself on social networks? - Asked the journalist.

“They saw, they thank that everything has changed and everything is fine,” added Love. This problem, as it turned out, lasted for several years. People repeatedly appealed to state bodies with a request to resolve the issue. And they were actually heard. The fact is that the rural shop in Surovnya belonged to the Beshenkovych raypo, which at that time had financial difficulties. As a result, the organization was liquidated. The owner in the selmagh changed. We started preparations, defrost refrigerators, but people did not have time to tell about it. In an interview with the journalist, the director of the Vitebsk city procurement office Tatyana Zuyeva noted that the shopping facility in Surovny was accepted by the procurement office just two weeks ago (at the time of recording the program). - Editor's note:

- Given the transition period, the replacement of equipment, somewhere there was an insufficient range of goods in the store. But within two days, it all got better, we filled the shelves. Now the store is widely represented by all groups of goods for necessary consumption.

The journalist asked how the ration of delivery of goods to the selmag is formed. Tatiana Zuyeva stressed that today the store in Surovny has the necessary goods: several types of chicken products, sausages, bakery products, which are imported regularly, flour, pasta. Present in the selmag and borsch set, vegetables, fruits. In short, there is everything to satisfy the demand of buyers.

- It is too early to talk about the financial result, but I can say that during the work, revenue has increased almost one and a half times, the director of the Vitebsk city procurement office drew attention. Selmag is needed! The Chairman of the Mishnević Village Council Galina Zezyulko in an interview with the journalist noted that after the publication of the video in social networks the next day went to the place. Speaking about what the situation looked like, she stressed that the actual situation in the store looked like it was shown in the video:

- The rural shop in Surovnya belonged to the Beshenkovich raypo, which had difficulties. Therefore, naturally, the range left much to be desired, this is a fact. Now everything has changed dramatically, we went under the regional Gothic Office. We also receive gratitude from car shops, I know that people called the district executive committee and expressed gratitude for the range that is now available. They say that there is no comparison between heaven and earth.

The mayor knows every family in the area. In winter, she herself sat behind the wheel and brought food to those who could not reach the store or to whom the car shop did not reach because of the frost. He understands perfectly well that the selmag serves not only economic, but also social: it is, consider it, a gathering point where there is not only fresh bread, but also fresh news. And I want them to be good.

- There was nothing, empty refrigerators. At first, when they joined the Beshenkovich raypo, it was good, and then it got worse and worse every day. Relatives bring if you ask for something, but it is better when you look at the range yourself and take it yourself, with your own hands. There was nothing, not even toilet paper. And now, after the appeal, everything has improved, local residents told the journalist, speaking about the problems they faced. By the way, according to the legislation, anyone can open a retail outlet in any settlement - there are no prohibitions. But work in villages of up to 200 people is unprofitable, provided that the requirements of assortment and price are met. That is why the main burden is borne by the state consumer cooperation, which is under the constant control of the district leadership. The Chairman of the Shumilinsky district Council of Deputies Ruslan Matveychuk on the same day when the video was released, together with the commission went to Surovni and said: - There were no significant discrepancies. As you can see when watching the video, dairy products were on the shelves of the store. Yes, there was no toilet paper, but there were sanitary wipes, that is, industrial goods were available. I want to note that the delivery on the seller’s requests is carried out mainly on Thursdays, so it was expected that food, industrial goods were to be delivered in the near future, that is, by Friday, when the store is open.

- On Friday, August 28, we saw that the shelves are just bursting with products that are available. We know that near the store there is a post office, where there are also certain goods, the journalist noted.

As Ruslan Matveychuk emphasized, there are post offices on the territory of rural settlements in the Shumilin district, which are a great help for the sale of both food and industrial goods.

- In villages and villages where there are no stationary postal stations, there is a postal machine. At the request of a consumer, a resident of a village, postal workers can bring any goods except alcohol, he said. Within a radius of 200 meters from the store there is a post office where you can buy food and industrial goods, where there is always bread, sugar, toilet paper and everything that the consumer needs.

And this point is fundamental: in addition to the store in the village there is also a post office, where there are always essential products - milk, tea, poultry meat, fish, sugar. You can even make an order for a certain product, the film crew personally convinced.

- There's no problem with groceries in the post office. Order vegetables and fruits, everything that is in demand. Dumplings, chicken, it's all there. The car brings the goods as the application is formed, Elena, a post office employee of the village of Surovni, draws attention. Speaking about what measures are taken in order to effectively monitor the quality of products in small settlements and its availability on store shelves, pricing, so that prices for citizens who live in rural areas do not bite, the head of the trade department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexey Bogachev noted that the management employees directly go to control events in various areas:

- Activities are carried out mainly in the form of monitoring. In case of detection of any violations, business entities are issued recommendations for the prompt elimination of already identified violations. In case of detection of similar violations during repeated monitoring, administrative liability measures may be applied.

Alexei Bogachev also said that all issues are always under the control of not only the main department, but also district executive committees.

- On a regular basis, district executive committees exercise this control, including over pricing in facilities. Today, there is a resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 713, which establishes marginal trade allowances for a fairly large range of food products, he said.

This story is instructive for both sides. First of all, it is necessary to establish a dialogue between government representatives and people. If people knew that the stage at the selmagh is transitional, they would buy in advance, and there would be no unpleasant emotions. The president has repeatedly said that order in the countryside should be monitored. Personal responsibility for trade in small settlements is borne personally by the chairman of the village council and the owners of retail outlets. But do not forget that such stores largely continue their work at the expense of state subsidies. We, the Belarusians, live equally well. And the choice in the store was in the city, and in the same Shumilino. And there must be an alternative. After all, there are products at the post office, and a private outlet comes. And it is good that our people are used to the fact that the standard of living in the regions is provided by the state, and they want it to be even better. By the way, the author of the video Lyubov has already managed to thank all those involved in the prompt resolution of the issue: On behalf of the residents of the village of Surovni of the Shumilin district, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Vitebsk Belkoopsoyuz for the prompt reaction to the appeal that I published on the social network on August 26. On August 28, we received a full delivery of products. Thank you for the speed and care of the villagers. That’s the kind of product we have now. Shelves are breaking.

That's a lot more tics. Otherwise, as always, it will reach Lukashenka on Monday. Repeat the program see tomorrow, October 13, at 10:10 — and it will be at 19:30 on the “First information”. Do not miss, your voice will be heard, and it will definitely reach the addressee.