We have a cancellation
21 July 2021 0 comments
"Everyone was stormy, but we survived it." How Moscow restaurants achieved the abolition of QR codes.
On June 28, the Moscow authorities banned visiting restaurants and cafes without QR codes confirming vaccination, and on the afternoon of July 16, they suddenly canceled this decision. For three weeks of work with restrictions, the capital's public catering, according to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, lost from 60% to 85% of revenue. In an interview with The Bell, the founder of the Meat & Fish restaurant chain, the ombudsman in the field of the Moscow restaurant business, Sergey Mironov, told why the experiment did not last long, how the QR mode affected the market and due to what the industry managed to convince the mayor's office.
Why were QR codes canceled
- QR codes were introduced just more than two weeks ago under the stormy indignation of the restaurant community, and today they were abruptly canceled. Such inconsistency is surprising. Did this also come as a surprise to the restaurateurs?
— No, it was not a surprise — we ourselves wrote a letter to Sergei Semyonovich [Sobyanin], met, gave arguments [in favor of canceling access to restaurants by QR codes]. We were really waiting for this news.
— So you were warned that the cancellation will be announced today?
— No, we were not warned, but it was logical and expected.
— The main reason for the cancellation of this measure was the lobby of the restaurant community?
— Several factors have come together here: more than 2 million people have already been vaccinated in Moscow, restaurants have provided 60% of their employees with vaccination by July 15, the incidence statistics have gone down. As soon as we saw all this, we immediately wrote a letter to Sergey Semyonovich, which he took into account.
Moscow has always done this: as soon as there was an opportunity to cancel tough measures, they were canceled. Therefore, I do not see any inconsistency here.
- Morbidity may have decreased, but not mortality: Moscow sets new anti-records every day…
— Firstly, people whose deaths have already been recorded, most likely fell ill even before the introduction of the system with QR codes, so it is incorrect to focus on mortality. Secondly, restaurants are the safest public spaces in Moscow now. We were the first from all industries to vaccinate employees, everything is fine with us in compliance with the measures, people do not get sick here.
About the dialogue with the authorities
— If the authorities understand this, why were QR codes introduced in restaurants?
— This is a difficult question, we all ask it. This is not only happening in Russia, it is a global stereotype to think that restaurants are more to blame for the spread of the virus than others.
— Did you ask this question during the negotiations with the mayor's office? What did they answer you?
— They answered that yes, they believe that people get infected in restaurants. And this position can be changed only by the statistics of morbidity among our guests, which we will calculate and provide.
— Among the possible reasons for the abrupt cancellation of this measure, they also call the elections to the State Duma — allegedly the current government does not want to be associated with strict restrictions, and thus tries to win the loyalty of Muscovites. What do you think about this?
— I think that there is no connection here. If there was such a goal, then nothing would be introduced.
- Tell us in more detail exactly how your dialogue with Moscow officials took place. Restaurant Telegram channels call you and Anastasia Tatulova the main fighters against this measure. Did the two of you really go to the offices together?
— I am an ombudsman from the restaurant business, Anastasia-from all small and medium-sized businesses, this is our job. Yes, during these two weeks we have organized a huge number of Zooms, offline meetings, discussions at various levels. We were constantly in touch with the restaurant community, checking how the vaccination was going, whether safety measures were being observed. And the dialogue with the authorities turned out to be extremely effective.
- Effective despite the fact that restaurants were losing revenue due to an experiment that they decided to cancel two weeks later?
— This experiment was needed to motivate people to get vaccinated, and it worked. In addition, in this short time, two large packages of measures to support restaurants from the state were released, which helped us a lot.
— Which of them actually helped?
— All restaurants have been allocated a subsidy of 1 million rubles — this is a great help. They offered loans to restaurateurs at preferential rates, 8% of which is compensated by the state to banks, they gave a subsidy to pay for utilities for three months. Moscow has helped us financially a lot this time.
About the losses of the restaurant industry
— How did the restaurants survive this period?
- It's difficult. Everyone was stormy, everyone had a hard time. But mostly we survived it — that's the main thing.
— What percentage of establishments have closed due to the introduction of QR codes?
— A lot of people have closed, this is a fact. But I think that more than half of them will open again after the QR codes are canceled.
— Can you assess the damage that this measure has caused to the industry?
— This is a question about the average temperature in the hospital, it can not be calculated. There were restaurants that work in business centers and factories — they could receive guests without QR codes, they did not suffer, and even won: the flow of unvaccinated people went to them. There were delivery-oriented pizza and sushi, whose orders soared by half. There were restaurants with huge verandas that were crammed to the brim. And there were also those who lost money catastrophically.
- And specifically in your establishments (Sergey Mironov owns a chain of restaurants "Meat & Fish") how are you doing with the indicators?
— We have a franchise network, we need our partners to calculate for themselves. We will be able to talk about the real state of affairs at the end of the month.
— What conclusions did you draw from the whole story with QR codes? What was that all about?
— First of all, it was a positive signal that an effective dialogue can be established with the authorities.
— How long will the industry recover after this experiment?
- In different ways. Someone is still feeling great, and someone will need several months to recover
On June 28, the Moscow authorities banned visiting restaurants and cafes without QR codes confirming vaccination, and on the afternoon of July 16, they suddenly canceled this decision. For three weeks of work with restrictions, the capital's public catering, according to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, lost from 60% to 85% of revenue. In an interview with The Bell, the founder of the Meat & Fish restaurant chain, the ombudsman in the field of the Moscow restaurant business, Sergey Mironov, told why the experiment did not last long, how the QR mode affected the market and due to what the industry managed to convince the mayor's office.
Why were QR codes canceled
- QR codes were introduced just more than two weeks ago under the stormy indignation of the restaurant community, and today they were abruptly canceled. Such inconsistency is surprising. Did this also come as a surprise to the restaurateurs?
— No, it was not a surprise — we ourselves wrote a letter to Sergei Semyonovich [Sobyanin], met, gave arguments [in favor of canceling access to restaurants by QR codes]. We were really waiting for this news.
— So you were warned that the cancellation will be announced today?
— No, we were not warned, but it was logical and expected.
— The main reason for the cancellation of this measure was the lobby of the restaurant community?
— Several factors have come together here: more than 2 million people have already been vaccinated in Moscow, restaurants have provided 60% of their employees with vaccination by July 15, the incidence statistics have gone down. As soon as we saw all this, we immediately wrote a letter to Sergey Semyonovich, which he took into account.
Moscow has always done this: as soon as there was an opportunity to cancel tough measures, they were canceled. Therefore, I do not see any inconsistency here.
- Morbidity may have decreased, but not mortality: Moscow sets new anti-records every day…
— Firstly, people whose deaths have already been recorded, most likely fell ill even before the introduction of the system with QR codes, so it is incorrect to focus on mortality. Secondly, restaurants are the safest public spaces in Moscow now. We were the first from all industries to vaccinate employees, everything is fine with us in compliance with the measures, people do not get sick here.
About the dialogue with the authorities
— If the authorities understand this, why were QR codes introduced in restaurants?
— This is a difficult question, we all ask it. This is not only happening in Russia, it is a global stereotype to think that restaurants are more to blame for the spread of the virus than others.
— Did you ask this question during the negotiations with the mayor's office? What did they answer you?
— They answered that yes, they believe that people get infected in restaurants. And this position can be changed only by the statistics of morbidity among our guests, which we will calculate and provide.
— Among the possible reasons for the abrupt cancellation of this measure, they also call the elections to the State Duma — allegedly the current government does not want to be associated with strict restrictions, and thus tries to win the loyalty of Muscovites. What do you think about this?
— I think that there is no connection here. If there was such a goal, then nothing would be introduced.
- Tell us in more detail exactly how your dialogue with Moscow officials took place. Restaurant Telegram channels call you and Anastasia Tatulova the main fighters against this measure. Did the two of you really go to the offices together?
— I am an ombudsman from the restaurant business, Anastasia-from all small and medium-sized businesses, this is our job. Yes, during these two weeks we have organized a huge number of Zooms, offline meetings, discussions at various levels. We were constantly in touch with the restaurant community, checking how the vaccination was going, whether safety measures were being observed. And the dialogue with the authorities turned out to be extremely effective.
- Effective despite the fact that restaurants were losing revenue due to an experiment that they decided to cancel two weeks later?
— This experiment was needed to motivate people to get vaccinated, and it worked. In addition, in this short time, two large packages of measures to support restaurants from the state were released, which helped us a lot.
— Which of them actually helped?
— All restaurants have been allocated a subsidy of 1 million rubles — this is a great help. They offered loans to restaurateurs at preferential rates, 8% of which is compensated by the state to banks, they gave a subsidy to pay for utilities for three months. Moscow has helped us financially a lot this time.
About the losses of the restaurant industry
— How did the restaurants survive this period?
- It's difficult. Everyone was stormy, everyone had a hard time. But mostly we survived it — that's the main thing.
— What percentage of establishments have closed due to the introduction of QR codes?
— A lot of people have closed, this is a fact. But I think that more than half of them will open again after the QR codes are canceled.
— Can you assess the damage that this measure has caused to the industry?
— This is a question about the average temperature in the hospital, it can not be calculated. There were restaurants that work in business centers and factories — they could receive guests without QR codes, they did not suffer, and even won: the flow of unvaccinated people went to them. There were delivery-oriented pizza and sushi, whose orders soared by half. There were restaurants with huge verandas that were crammed to the brim. And there were also those who lost money catastrophically.
- And specifically in your establishments (Sergey Mironov owns a chain of restaurants "Meat & Fish") how are you doing with the indicators?
— We have a franchise network, we need our partners to calculate for themselves. We will be able to talk about the real state of affairs at the end of the month.
— What conclusions did you draw from the whole story with QR codes? What was that all about?
— First of all, it was a positive signal that an effective dialogue can be established with the authorities.
— How long will the industry recover after this experiment?
- In different ways. Someone is still feeling great, and someone will need several months to recover