Revenue hit

Fatal for business. Russians oppose the introduction of mandatory QR codes
Russian business on the eve of the introduction of mandatory QR codes draws attention to their losses due to restrictive measures. Entrepreneurs believe that the new measures will have a detrimental effect on all sectors of the economy and ask the state for support. Meanwhile, citizens are campaigning against the tightening of sanitary standards on the streets throughout the country. Protest actions take place even on the Internet, says Igor Prusakov.

The union of shopping centers in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (uniting more than 500 shopping and entertainment centers) has addressed President Vladimir Putin with a letter in which he asks the Russian state to support business during lockdowns and the introduction of QR codes. Entrepreneurs want the industry to be recognized as affected by the coronavirus, tax refunds and a freeze on interest payments on loans.

The organization points out that in some regions, Russians are allowed in the shopping center only on the basis of vaccination documents, previous illness or PCR tests, which is why both attendance and tenants' revenue fell by 60-80%. In Moscow alone, shopping centers lost more than 10 billion rubles in 11 days of lockdown. At the same time, the industry is not considered affected by the pandemic and does not receive any support from the authorities.

That is why the authors of the appeal call on Putin to include the "Renting and Management of Own or Leased Commercial Real Estate Property" in the list of affected sectors of the economy. And also consider the possibility of supporting this sector of the economy for the time being with a set of measures: abolishing property tax for shopping centers, returning taxes paid during the downtime in 2020 and 2021 and freezing interest payments on loans to banks with state participation.

If the above is done in a timely manner, businessmen believe, they will be able to save jobs for 4 million Russians. The state's reaction to the appeal is not yet known.

However, representatives of other sectors of the economy also say about the severity of their situation. For example, Moscow restaurant ombudsman Sergei Mironov said that the introduction of mandatory QR codes will lead to a long-term drop in the revenue of catering establishments, and as a result - to their closure: “Even a 20% drop in revenue in the long run is fatal for a restaurant. If 35% of people are vaccinated in a region, how will a restaurant operate with a 35% occupancy rate? This is not a store - one person has a QR code, the other does not, but one can go to the store for two, but you can't eat for two in a restaurant, ”Mironov complained.

The restaurateur believes that until at least half of the population is vaccinated, the restaurant business will not be able to function normally. He stressed that under the current conditions, most establishments have to work at a loss: “How ready the restaurant is at a disadvantage, where will the subsidies come from, who will finance it - this is the question. We see in a number of regions where QR codes have been introduced: only what is to be delivered works - it is pizza, sushi, burgers, some lower part of the industry, everything "light" survives. And Italian cuisine, Spanish, Russian cuisine, gastronomic restaurants are empty and, after some time, they simply will not exist, ”the Ombudsman warned.

We will remind, on the eve of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, approved a government bill on the use of QR codes in public places and on some types of transport. It was recommended to the Council of the lower house of parliament to include this document in the program of legislative work of the Duma for December.

Now the text of the draft will be discussed by factions, studied in committees and commissions, and copies of it will end up with the president, the Federation Council and the higher executive bodies of the constituent entities of Russia to prepare reviews that should be sent to the Duma security committee by December 15.
The bill suggests that QR codes will be needed by citizens when visiting cultural institutions, non-food shops and cafes. It will also be necessary to show them on long-distance trains and during air travel. Without a QR code, it will be possible to visit grocery stores and pharmacies. All introduced restrictions will be valid until June 1, 2022.

The bill is opposed all over Russia. Only in recent days, citizens went to rallies and pickets in Belgorod, Orenburg, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Voronezh, Nakhodka, Bryansk, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Kostroma, Novosibirsk, Barnaul and other cities. Protests began even in virtuality.

On Twitter, the question was raised: why are QR codes actually entered? Many users consider the pandemic to be simply a convenient excuse to restrict the rights of people and the use of an additional tool by the state to control the population. Users do not believe the promises of the authorities to lift the restriction regime in the summer of 2022 and write that “QR codes will remain forever”.

Both on the Internet and on the streets, they declare that they do not classify themselves as anti-vaccines and conscientiously put all the recommended vaccinations for themselves and their children. But in the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, they are in no hurry to do this, because they impose vaccinations exclusively on Russian
Наверх
Заголовок страницы Контент сайта