"Cleaning day" at Leningradsky market in Moscow, April 1, 2007
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Migrants Forced out of Retail Sales
Since yesterday, migrant workers have been prohibited to trade in open-air retail markets under a government resolution. More than a third of the spaces in Moscow markets remained closed yesterday and, in some regions, up to 80 percent of trading points were empty. Analysts expect up to half of the migrants to return to their homelands or change fields of employment, while the rest will attempt to receive Russian citizenship. Foreigners are not prohibited to work as guards or porters in markets. The new resolution, meant to “defend the native population,” as ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin last November, will undoubtedly raise prices.
The presence of migrants was limited to 40 percent on January 15 as a step toward the April 1 full ban. It was assumed that Russian farmers would fill in for the displaced foreigners, but Rosstat, the federal statistics service, reports that only 52 percent of the freed places had been filled by the end of last months. In the large Moscow market, whole rows of booths are empty. “What Russian is going to work here?” a seller at Moscow's Dorogomilovsky market asked. “8000 rubles a month for 12 hours a day and you have to make up for shortage out of your own pocket.” When a guard saw the correspondent's notebook, he seized it, saying notetaking is not allowed with the permission of market management. Leningradsky market did not open at all yesterday and Tishinksy market will not open today. Outside their gates, sellers desperately tried to sell their remaining fruits for half price.
Agents of the Federal Migration Service were accompanied by special forces troops as they verified enforcement of the new rule. According to the press service of the Moscow FMS, only four violators were discovered. The federal FMS press service said that no large scale enforcement actions were planned.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 02, 2007
|
|
|
