Entrepreneurs threaten to stop paying rent and taxes


It is the last hope for businessmen to save their jobs and income. Hundreds of entrepreneurs, who arrived in Minsk, believe in positive results of the forum in a new dialogue with the authorities.

“They hope that after the forum the authorities will meet them halfway in such a difficult situation and let the entrepreneurs work hard to earn money to feed their family,” said Viktar Marchyk from the “Perspective” association.

And time is short. Moreover, the preliminary talks with the authorities only postponed the bankruptcy of most private businesses. That was in March. Now the problem has returned with renewed vigor.

“We will not be able to work from January 1. We will stop our operations. We will not pay taxes, we will not pay the rent. The state will receive less money both from us and from the lessors,” says Svyatlana Kalachova, entrepreneur from Homiel.

But the main obstacle for the majority of individual entrepreneurs is the presidential Decree 222. According to the document, traders are required to have supporting documents and certificates for goods. In their absence, private businesses expect fines up to 200 basic units. Therefore, at the forum the association “Perspective” offered to the authorities an anti-criisis plan. The project includes, in particular, a moratorium on the presidential decree.

“We are trying to resolve the situation before the first of January, in order not to lead to extremes. We very much want to do it. We want it more than others,” explains Anatol Shumchanka from the association “Perspective”.

It is still unknown if the dialogue will succeed. The meeting was attended by a representative of the Ministry of Trade. However, after he spoke, it became clear that the officials were not going to give up.

“You have to understand at this forum that we will work, not only should, but must work. If we needed to make some decisions, they were passed, are passed and will be passed. But a civilized market implies trade with documents. Civilized market involves organized trade. We have been moving in this direction for years,” said Andrey Myashkou, the Ministry of Commerce.

Entrepreneurs say that to receive such documents is almost impossible. Wholesalers in the markets of the Customs Union simply do not have them. In this case, the responsibility for product quality rests entirely on the shoulders of SPs. They consider it unacceptable. Offer of the officials to sell the domestic products did not meet optimistic response.

“Our Belarusian goods are expensive, they do not sell well, they are not always good looking, they are not competitive. And in this case we will be selling the same,” adds Svyatlana Kalachova, a sole proprietor.

The proprietors are going to wait for a response from authorities until the twenty-eighth of December. If no one listens to their voices, entrepreneurs do not rule out staging social protests throughout the country. Small businessmen will discuss further steps at the next forum to be held in early January.

Yan Babitski, Belsat.eu

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