"They'll Bring Mackerel," or How Truck Shops Make the Residents of Remote and Small Villages of the Vitebsk Region Happy

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Among the regions of Belarus in the northernmost there are the most rural settlements. In a good part of them - only fifty inhabitants, there are also those where in the evenings the light in the windows lights up only in five or only one lonely house. Stationary shops, enterprises and clubs were closed there at one time, since it is economically unprofitable to maintain them, and the villagers, already accustomed to this land, did not leave - their native places warm their souls. So it is in Ostrovlyany, Gorodok district. Up to 40 people live here all year round, mostly old people, who are visited by children and grandchildren on weekends and holidays. Many houses were bought by summer residents. During the middle of the week in spring, the village seems very quiet and almost deserted. It comes to life at certain hours, when a mobile shop stops for a few minutes at the fork in the road, not far from the bench on the side of the road.

Twice a week, on average, one of the car shops of the Polotsk market in Vitebsk arrives in the village. In total, the enterprise has two such stores, in the zone of responsibility of which is part of the Vitebsk and Gorodok districts. The car loaded with goods leaves the regional center at about 7 am and travels along the route until it provides the villagers with everything they need.

While the car of the regional consumer society is catching up with the car shop, market DIRECTOR Andrey Kozik explains: “Today this car shop serves eight settlements - this is an average number. It all depends on the duration of parking and the distance of villages from each other. less than five hundred people, in the largest one 144 residents are registered, in the smallest - only 12. The delivery distance is 115 kilometers. In the Vitebsk region, the situation is different: there are settlements where two or three people live."

Along the way, we meet women with full bags: it is clear that they have already stocked up and are in a hurry to deliver groceries home. A blue bicycle with a basket and a trunk is parked two meters from the auto shop. Its owner is just checking whether she bought everything according to the list on the eve of the bright holiday of the Resurrection of Christ.

“That’s all, Galechka. Did I take Easter?” the woman asks, receiving an affirmative answer. “Good. Is there Estonian qi or something with lard? , tamping the products into one of the packages.

Tatyana Dergacheva

A little later, she asks for a small piece of MEAT and small glazed curds. "And a bun, but a small farm," the seller prompts. “Yes, exactly. I forget everything. First of all, to people, and then I take it for myself,” the woman explains.

Tatyana Leonidovna and her husband came to the village near Gorodok more than 40 years ago. Together they built a career here. The man went from the chief livestock specialist to the deputy chairman of the collective farm. The woman was first a postman, later an accountant, then she was engaged in agricultural work, and now, in retirement, she has become a social worker.

Galina Razumovskaya

“I did not regret that I left Vitebsk and came here. We have beauty here, there are many lakes and only 19 kilometers from Gorodok. You would know how fun we lived here. lights. Any city would envy us! We came, in theory, for two years, but they grew up, because it was good. And now I don’t want to go to the city, I’m used to it. Now we’ve grown old, and the children have grown up and left. They come, of course, They visit. It's fun in the summer, there are a lot of kids. And we used to have a store, too, about five years ago it still worked. In the village, mostly old people remained, but I won't cover everyone - I'm already retired," the woman shares.

He says that several auto shops come to them from different organizations. For example, on Wednesdays only meat is brought in, on Fridays - products from one of the poultry farms. Universal - almost mini-markets in the back - call in a couple of days a week. “We are very pleased with the mobile shop. Firstly, there is a whole range of products, from toilet paper, matches, to dairy products and meat. In the summer, we can buy ice cream for our grandchildren, juices, any drinks,” Tatyana Dergacheva lists. “And it works on request. After all, it doesn’t always happen, for example, fish. And they bring mackerel, potatoes by order, compound feed. We practically don’t keep anything anymore - the village is old. Only if someone has chickens. "

A woman demonstrates a grocery basket: “Here, I took Easter cakes for my wards, some meat, smoked meats, sausages, bread, cottage cheese, sour cream, matches and fruits. we need to say in advance."

To bring a ham, a bird, a certain sausage or even food for cats and dogs for Easter - the requests of buyers in the countryside are completely different and almost do not differ from urban ones. Everything is built on trust. Galina Razumovskaya, a car dealer, is always in touch with the villagers. The villagers greet her as a good friend, who sometimes remembers the entire shopping list for them.

“Here she is already coming, and I know what needs to be given. She may not even speak, only if something is additionally needed,” the seller explains. “I like working with people, these grandparents, who need the right approach "They can call me the day before and tell me what to bring next time. We try to deliver everything they ask. And they also ask for fresh-frozen fish. We always have it, for example, pollock today. We also brought a small mackerel: people are satisfied with the weight, You can’t take one and a half kilograms - a lot, it’s decently worth it. Nevertheless, the top 3 requests include a standard set: bread, MILK , sausages.

Now the truck shop crew, consisting of a driver and a salesperson, can take twice as many goods on the route as they did a year ago. All this time they are on the road in a new car with a carrying capacity of 10 tons (its predecessor could carry only 5 tons). The isothermal van is made to order to maximize the possibilities of a mobile retail facility and deliver fresh goods to the consumer. “We mainly work with our consumer cooperation enterprises, where they have their own shops for the production of products: meat, bakery, mineral water. We have 90% of goods from a Belarusian manufacturer,” says the market director.

The assortment for truck shops is selected based on the requirements of the March Decree of November 19, 2020 No. 74 "On the lists of goods". Since the document lists essential goods, the shelves are replenished with other products that are in demand in the region. Pensioners, people with disabilities, families with many children, parents or legal representatives of disabled children under the age of 18 receive discounts of up to 10% on socially important essential goods. The same benefits are provided for recipients of state targeted social assistance in the form of a monthly allowance.

Andrey Kozik

“Vitebsk Regional Consumer Society remains the main trading operator that ensures the operation of auto shops in the countryside: 115 mobile consumer cooperation facilities serve almost 3.7 thousand settlements with a total population of more than 60 thousand people,” said a member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, HEAD of the main Department of Trade and Services of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Irina Levkovich - Despite the specifics of territorial settlement (a large number of sparsely populated areas, a significant distance between them), the availability of trade services is provided for residents of each rural settlement.

Both long distances and difficult roads do not become a hindrance. “We work from call to call. Recently there were these weather conditions: rain, snow, slush, and the car should always be on the route. And people know that the truck will come,” Andrey Kozik recalls the difficult spring period.

A couple of weeks ago, when there were floods in the districts of the region, mobile shops often had to change the route or linger along the way. Not everywhere it was possible to drive up, they determined another stopping place. “And they skidded more than once, and pulled it out. Up to the point that they pulled a slipping car shop with two tractors. There were such cases in the Vitebsk and Gorodok districts. You can’t get away from this - nature, - says Andrey Kozik. - And people are waiting. And if you don’t leave a person without bread and milk, you will go anyway.”

For the summer, mobile shops of consumer cooperation will revise their schedules and routes. Indeed, in rural areas with the summer season and holidays, there will be more people, which means that the demand for goods will increase significantly.

Evgeniya ARKHIPOVA,

photo of the author,

BELTA.