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#13
Vremya Novostei
December 19, 2001
SHUTTLE TRADERS DISAPPEARING
Possible close to the era of cheap goods brought in from abroad
Author: Vera Brycheva, Gleb Cherkasov
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

ONE OF THE MOST WIDEPREAD PROFESSIONS OF THE 1990S MAY SOON CEASE TO EXIST. SHUTTLE TRADERS, WHO BRING GOODS INTO RUSSIA IN SMALL CONSIGNMENTS AND ARE SAID TO PROVIDE CLOTHING FOR HALF THE NATION, WILL BE DOOMED. THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE MINISTRY HAS PLANS FOR THEM.

One of the most widepread professions of the 1990s may soon cease to exist. Shuttle traders, who bring goods into Russia in small consignments and are said to provide clothing for half the nation, will be doomed. At least, such a prospect may be realized if new ideas of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry are implemented. According to head of the Department for tariff regulations and market security of the ministry Andrei Kushnirenko, the ministry of German Gref prepared a draft bill, according to which cargos of more than 50 kilos, brought from abroad, will be considered "a consignment of goods". And it means that the customs will take import tariffs, calculated by goods cost. At present, the following regulation is valid: cargos of 50 to 200 kilos are liable to one 30% tax, which is extremely profitable for shuttle traders.

Making this decision, the Economic Development Ministry, according to Mr. Kushnirenko, was guided by the fact that there were almost no shuttle traders left. They were edged out by "cargo-firms", which clear goods through the customs, using advantages of shuttle traders. Thus, according to the ministry, shuttle trading turned into covering "gray imports" which reaches 90% in certain spheres, say, furs.

The idea of eliminating the shuttle trade is not new. In 1997 the finance minister of that time, Yevgeny Yasin, wanted to do so. He believes that shuttle traders played their role in alleviating unemployment problems, as well as the problem of supplying the nation with goods. Now the era of shuttle trading is over.

Speaking about disappearance of shuttle traders as a social class, both Kushnirenko and Yasin should have some data to prove it. But it is impossible to calculate how many citizens were ferrying goods from China, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Italy and other countries during the 1990s. According to estimates, up to 2 million people dealt with this kind of business, bringing goods for $10 billion. Most shuttle traders never tried to work on a larger scale, and avoided official registration whenever possible. Up to 1998 the state practically did not control shuttle trading - certain state representatives successfully dealt with it. However, on June 30, 1998 the State Trading Committee issued a regulation on procedures, which the Economic Development Ministry considers obsolete. Attempts to regulate the market served as the first blow at it, and the ruble devaluation, together with the financial crisis, undermined the shuttle trade even more severely. If the government approves the ministry's suggestion, shuttle traders will have no other option but quit.

But if no more shuttle traders remain, the range of consumer goods will not change greatly. If shuttle traders do provide a considerable part of the abundance of goods, then the authors of the idea are likely to face not only economic, but also social troubles. And this will involve not only an inevitable increase in prices, but also people who might lose steady jobs and incomes.

(Translated by Daria Brunova)

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