What Do Belarusians Eat?
- 8.05.2018, 9:18
It turns out that products of ordinary people and officials differ.
What is the situation with food products in Belarus? "People's barometer" in the form of messages on social networks notes things are bad. For example, Hrodna residents found worms in Kommunarka candies, Minsk resident got poisoned with Coca-Cola, Stolin resident bought rotten eggs. Sausages, dairy products, even bred are of poor quality... The list can be endless.
What's happened? Why are Belarusian products so spoiled? This question of Charter97.org was addressed to the head of the Strategy analytical center, economist Leanid Zaika:
- Competitiveness is the key option for high-quality goods. It there is no economic competition in the country, we will consume products of dubious quality.
As soon as Hrodna dairy plant competes, for example, with the Minsk or Vitsebsk one, we will observe lower prices and better quality of all diary products. This is what comes first.
Second, Lukashenka's better to stay aside and to stop interfering in agriculture. Everything will be better in the country, if he becomes just an ordinary consumer.
Third, the government should stimulate the work of consumer societies. Formally, we have the Republican Society and its branches in cities and towns. These structures should navigate consumers.
Fourth, Belarus has a paradox. The country is agrarian under the red-green flag, which is increasingly turning into more green. And what is happening in reality? A couple of days ago I came from Warsaw. I dropped into in a small shop selling nuts and dried fruits at the station. And I saw American dried cranberries. Dried cranberries from the US, Carl! And it is sold covered with sugar from the Russian Federation. I wonder where is the Belarusian cranberries. There are none.
It proves a complete incompetence and a complete agricultural impasse: we can only buy American or Russian berries in the country of vast marshes and great fields of cranberries.
I believe it's more indicative than to count milk-yield and so on. If there is no order in production of natural foods given us by nature, there will be a mess in other spheres. After all, mushrooms, berries are a prefeudal epoch, the primitive society. It's gathering! Neanderthal men once gave the dust to the Belarusian government in skills and abilities.
Although the solution to the problem of food quality impovement is a multi-factor one, the first thing required is to close down the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Will it help?
- I guess it will also be indicative. The Ministry of Economy and dozen committees and ministries should also be closed. And then the economy will take the better pace following objective laws, not orders.
- There is an opinion that best products are exported to Russia. How much is this statement reliable?
- It's the matter of yesterday. In April I was in the Kaliningrad oblast of Russia: there is almost no Belarusian production.
Such a "strong" argument is more about the Brezhnev era. Then all production divided into exported and domestic. For example, a car was produced and it was written with chalk "for export". Sometimes it caused scandals. When a book "Belarus" dedicated to a some anniversary was issued, there was a foto of MAZ with the inscription "for export". There was a scandal, the Party was against to show such photos to people.
Now this division has lost its relevance. There should be no effort made to persuade Belarusians that the best production goes to Russia. It's lie. We also sell them bad milk and casein with GMO.
I think Belarusian food products need urgent quality improvement. This problem is on agenda. And Belarusians should control its quality. Independent laboratories, which can reach even DNA, are required in the regions. First of all, the government should find money to analyze the food quality, and do not engage in "space" projects. But there are no signs to indicate something is being done in this sphere.
- Can the situation of the USSR with different products for officials and ordinary people reoccur in Belarus?
- Belarus has preserved the Soviet system of distribution of food products. And it keeps developing.
Nothing has changed since times with special shops. Every high official, figuratively speaking, has his cow with high quality milk. Especially regional bosses are keen on it. All directors of collective farms and the administration exchange matural products... They do not eat food we do.
It could not have been otherwise. This is the very sense of the nomenclature's existence: to have direct access not only to money and power, but also to quality products.