12:33, 13 сентября 2022, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA
The Association of Public Catering Enterprises of Kyrgyzstan expresses concern about the serious consequences of the adoption of amendments to the government decree on streamlining trading activities in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic for domestic business. The head of the association Anatoly Derevinsky said.
These are the requirements for the range of soft drinks in all cafes and restaurants in the country. According to the idea of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, it should include at least half of domestically produced drinks for each type of product.
According to business, adoption of the document will entail serious corruption risks, and public catering outlets will not be able to ensure its proper implementation.
«This amendment violates the law on competition, where it is clearly defined as «free competitiveness of economic entities in the market». Market players independently determine their economic fate through healthy market rivalry and without unreasonable interference in the process,» Anatoly Derevinsky said.
Enterprises and members of the association fully support the development of domestic production, but with respect for healthy market competition and a decrease in corruption components when checking catering establishments. It is difficult to imagine the implementation of the decree now, because most catering outlets are guided by consumer demand and the price of goods.
«We work in the interests of our clients. If a person orders a favorite drink, then we cannot limit his or her right to choose. It turns out that we will be wrong before the inspection bodies, which leads to an increase in corruption and the complexity of the work of all cafes and restaurants in the republic. In fact, the rights of domestic entrepreneurs are being infringed upon under the support of domestic producers,» the Public Catering Association says.
The requirement for an assortment will entail additional costs for catering facilities. There is one more problem. It is not always possible to find an analogue of imported products among domestic beverage producers that meets the quality and food safety. If we talk about well-known catering franchises in Kyrgyzstan, then they have strict requirements for the standards and quality of products sold, ingredients, not to mention the standards for staff selection, customer service.
This means that the requirement proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers will simply be unrealistic for such organizations.
«We are convinced that support for domestic beverage producers should not run counter to the interests of other parties, primarily consumers, and violate the freedom of entrepreneurship and fair competition. We hope that the legislators will take into account the interests of all parties and cancel this initiative as not complying with either the country’s domestic laws or international obligations and, most importantly, impossible for implementation,» Anatoly Derevinsky concluded.