New government decisions will sink small shops

Late on a dark Tuesday night at the joint meeting of the Crisis Management Council and the government many things have been decided, and the people will have to live with them in the future.

At first it was thought that now things would be somewhat more sensible, that traders would be able to breathe easier, and that dumb and useless restrictions would be removed. But people are now reading the recent news, trying to understand what it means, and it must be said that the further they read, the worse it gets.

For example, there is a bright message that the government conceptually supported that, from 8 February this year, on-site sales of the entire assortment of goods could also be provided by stores where at least 70% of the goods sold are groceries, stores where at least 70% of the goods are hygiene products, as well as bookstores. What does that mean?

"As well as bookstores" - should be translated as the owner of the publishing house Zvaigzne ABC and the chairman of the board Vija Kilbloka has long begged, then threatened and finally fulfilled the threat - submitted an application to the Constitutional Court, challenging the state ban on the sale of books. So now, hallelujah, the government is scared.

This also means that some stores will be able to work, but others will not - those who have 69% of groceries in their assortment of goods can sit at home and twiddle their thumbs. Why 70%? Who knows!

Whether we want to or not, we have to wonder if some nice people in government and ministries have been materially helped by one group of traders in these difficult Covid times. Well, we can't prove it, but it sure looks like it.

What falls into this 70 percent category that will be allowed? Supermarkets.

What does not or will have difficulties trying to fit in the allowed quota? Small shops or smaller supermarkets. There are chain stores that focus on the province. It sells all kinds of goods needed by the population and it is doubtful that they reach 70% of groceries. When adding milk and canned goods and subtracting toys and rubber boots, it may not reach 70%.

It is nice, of course, that we will no longer have to look at red-white-red ribbons at supermarkets, behind which lies a product that cannot be bought, but it turns out that some stores will be able to sell everything and others nothing. Where is the justice here?

Will it not be the case that small shops will fail, but large ones will be able to cheaply buy them in bulk to eliminate them as competitors? That's what it looks like.

However, Henriks Danusēvičs, the president of the Latvian Traders Association, says that the owners of supermarkets do not feel comfortable that they have been given such privileges. But how can you feel comfortable when the air smells of poisonous corruption. Even if there has been no corruption, it still smells bad.

The government and the Crisis Management Council also intend to set a limit of 25 square meters per buyer instead of the current 15. It seems understandable - the horrible Covid is spreading where people are close to each other and so on. But here again, suspicions of big and small shops arise. Already, only one customer can go inside the small corner shops. It's hard to tell how big an area there is for a store I know near home, but it could be about 25 meters. But what if it was 24? Then it has to close!

Where did the number 25 come from? Is it the case that in a 24-square-meter area, Covid is rapidly spreading, but when it is 25, that is no longer the case?

It will also be strange if the government mandates electronic visitor registration systems. This would then apply to supermarkets, as small ones are unlikely to be required to list one buyer. However, it has already been proven in practice that you can do without electronics quite easy - in those stores where there is order, the number of people is regulated by counting shopping baskets and trolleys. If the baskets run out, the security guard will not allow you to enter the shop. Where's the problem? Maybe they wish to support installers of electronic accounting systems so that they earn more? Even if there is no corruption, it smells like it.

As is traditional, the government is also conceptually deciding on all forms of repression and punishment of traders. Everyone must be afraid now! The responsibilities and obligations of traders to control the flow of visitors will be strengthened by listing the person responsible and introducing an internal control system for the implementation of epidemiological security measures at stores or shopping centers.

Be that as it may! If a person who is already responsible for everything will now be particularly epidemiologically responsible, no problems with erring on the side of caution.

Of course, situations can be different - there may also be lenient staff who ignore epidemiological violations. Buyers can also be different - even inadequate ones. It may be that the store employees can't deal with the rabble - the police must be called for help. But the sword of Damocles is now looming above the shopkeepers - threatened with severe penalties, even the closure of the shop. It is not as if shops are a hotspot for nonstop rule-breaking. This is just in theory. It would be terrible if the store has done everything as it should, but it would have to suffer because of unscrupulous buyers.

Stores are, of course, a Covid risk, and caution is needed in this sector. However, it is not the stores that are currently the largest contributors to Covid morbidity and death statistics. Retirement homes and hospitals, and the transmission of the infection from abroad, are quite a lot worse. Also, public transport, where neither 25 nor 15 square meters are possible. It is good that the government has at least realized a part of the problem and that it will allow the purchase of all the goods in the store, but the privileges of some, the bankruptcy of others working in the same industry, does not look good. Even if there is no corruption, it smells so bad that it's getting hard to breathe.