By
Tai Adelaja
Staff Writer
A
division of The New York Times
Workers
clearing snow between rows of empty stalls at the Leningradsky market in
northern
The
mood at the Cheryomushkinsky market in southwest
Some
Uzbeks and Azeris, former traders, wander about aimlessly, and the rows of
luscious fruits and the spicy aromas that used to be a permanent feature here
have all but disappeared.
In
the two weeks since the government imposed a quota of 40 percent on foreign
workers at the country's markets, rows of empty stalls have appeared at markets
across
With
greater or lesser effect, it's a picture being repeated across the country.
Proportionally, the largest exodus appears to be in the sparsely populated
"See
for yourself," said Uzbek citizen Maruf Yusupov, a trader at the
Cheryomushkinsky market, barely hiding his exasperation as he pointed to a row
of stalls left empty after the quotas came into force January 15. "Do you think
Russians will stand here from dawn to dusk every day to sell vegetables and
tomatoes?"
"If
they don't want us here, we'll leave," he said. "I'm certain these stalls will
remain empty."
The
gaps at the markets are set to grow come April 1, when a full ban on foreign
traders in retail markets comes into force.
The
crackdown was ordered by President Vladimir Putin in October, when he urged the
government to "protect the native population" in the country's markets. His
comments came after ethnic tensions flared in anti-migrant riots in the Karelia
region and amid a spy dispute with
Critics
of the migration changes say the authorities are playing into the hands of
right-wing nationalist groups, such as the Movement Against Illegal Immigration,
who have been whipping up sentiment against migrants and claiming that they are
taking jobs from ethnic Russians.
Along
with the markets crackdown, the government has set a quota of 6 million work
permits for countries that have visa-free agreements with
A
new, 10-day registration procedure for migrant workers, touted as a simplified
"one-stop shop" by the Federal Migration Service, also came into effect Jan. 15.
But so far the change has led to chaotic scenes in overcrowded offices, with
hundreds of people besieging clerks amid complaints that there are not enough
application forms to go around.
Price
Hikes
Government
officials have stressed that the new regulations are being implemented as
"painlessly" as possible, and insist that there were will be no problems in
filling the places left by migrant workers. But so far the picture on the ground
at
At
the city's central Danilovsky market, where most of the stallholders were from
Tamara,
a shopper at the market who refused to give her last name, said she did not care
"who is selling as long as price is right."
"These
tomatoes cost 100 rubles less last week, but see what we have now," she said,
pointing to a heap marked at 250 rubles per kilogram.
"Without
competition, price hikes are to be expected," said Fauna, an Uzbek vendor of
fruit and vegetables at the market, who also declined to give her last name.
"Nothing I sell here is grown in
Fauna
said her papers were in order, but her main concern was that she would now have
to deal with more middlemen to buy her produce.
Irina
Chichikova, who runs a clothes stall at the Luzhniki market in central
"We
Muscovites have a hard time standing from 10 in the morning until 9 o'clock in
the evening, selling garments," she said. "The reason [migrant workers] can do
this is that they are content with little turnover from great
efforts."
"Who
crafted those laws?" Chichikova said. "This was probably concocted by some
corrupt officials to milk the traders."
The
This
was borne out by the director of the Cheryomushkinsky market, who identified
himself only by his first name and patronymic, Alexander Vladimirovich. Even
though "there's an invitation out there, not one Russian is knocking on the
door," he said in an interview at the market last week.
"I'm
not a magician," he said in response to a follow-up question Tuesday about
whether he had yet managed to replace the migrant workers.
At
the Cherkizovsky market in northwest
Kolya
Stratechuk, a Ukrainian migrant trader who owns a number of stalls at the
market, said officials would "backpedal as soon as they realize the futility of
their efforts to reduce the number of migrant traders.
"There's
nothing good coming out of this apart from reduced competition and price hikes,"
he said.
The
director of the Cherkizovsky market declined to comment, saying only that the
problems were the making of the migration service and so all complaints should
be directed to them.
Zhenya,
a Tajik loader at the Tyoply Stan market who sleeps inside a goods container at
the market, said he would be staying put, as he had nowhere else to
go.
Crowds
and Chaos at Migration Offices
A
spokesman for the Federal Migration Service on Tuesday sought to deflect
criticism of its role in implementing the new migration rules, and insisted it
was doing everything it could to ensure that they were applied "as painlessly"
as possible.
Konstantin
Poltoranin said most of the difficulties encountered during the implementation
of the new regulations were not of the service's making.
"We
do not make the laws," Poltoranin said. "But we are trying to enforce them as
painlessly as possible."
Poltoranin
conceded, however, that the federal program to attract ethnic Russians back to
the country, launched in September, had run into problems due to lack of
preparation.
He
said the
On
the chaos at Federal Migration Service offices since Jan. 15, Poltoranin said
most of the long lines "resulted from excitement generated by the absence of
correct information on the procedures," Poltoranin said. "Many people came to
reception points after being misinformed that those points would close within 20
days," he said.
Migration
service offices in
Vanya,
a Moldovan construction worker, said Tuesday's visit was his third fruitless
attempt. "There were not enough blank forms to go around, not to talk of moving
an inch forward," he said.
In
the Far East cities of
Retail
trade there is dominated mainly by Chinese and Vietnamese vendors, and with the
introduction of the new rules, many of them have packed their stock, creating
shortages of goods and price hikes.
"Constant
raids by the immigration authorities coupled with the upcoming Chinese New Year
have led to complete disaster in many markets in the city," said Alla Rudnikova,
a business reporter for the city's Prima Media news
agency.
Rudnikova
said city authorities were desperately looking for ways to mitigate the impact
of the new rules. "Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants are now offering between
3,000 and 4,000 rubles to local pensioners and invalids to stand in their place
in the markets," she said.
In
After
Federal Migration Service officials carried out document checks on the handful
of Chinese traders left, most of them also packed up their goods and prepared to
leave. Others were handing over their stalls to Russian partners for quick
"clearance" sales, Rudnikova said.
The
new rules are putting pressure on some 100,000 Vietnamese immigrants living in
In
Last
month, as rumors of the impending measures gained credence, Vietnamese-owned
retail shops were selling fur coats, jeans, sweaters, sports pants, and T-shirts
at half of the original prices.
In
Yakovlev
said there was no one to replace the migrant workers because they sold specific
wares, most of them imported.
"Vietnamese
exporters to
Nguyen
Ba Anh, the head of the Vietnamese Business Association in
Apart
from losing their small businesses in
The
economic effects of the crackdown are likely to be felt especially in the CIS
countries that supply most of the country's migrant labor force, a World Bank
report released last week said.
CIS
countries are particularly dependent on the remittances migrant workers in
With
migrant workers comprising 10 percent of the population,
The
benefits accruing to
The
CIS countries most affected by the crackdown have been negotiating with
Russians
living on low incomes could be hit by the lack of cheap goods if the places in
the markets are not filled by April, Economic Development and Trade Minister
German Gref told State Duma deputies earlier this month.
"Russians
buy 40 percent of their meat, 44 percent of their vegetables and more than 50
percent of their winter clothes from these markets," he
said.
Gref
said the government might consider delaying the complete ban on foreigners in
retail markets until later in the year if there were a threat to the supply of
basic goods.
As
well as making basic goods more expensive, the new rules will likely lead to
more corruption at the markets, said Yelena Tyuryukanova, a senior researcher at
the
"Such
measures will lead to price increases, especially for groceries and clothes, and
make life unbearable for the low-income groups who rely on the markets to
satisfy basic needs," she said.
"The
markets will not be paralyzed," Tyuryukanova said. "The situation will simply
allow corruption to fester and lead to backdoor tactics that will allow migrant
workers to work using locals as fronts."
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