MINSK, 8 April (BelTA) – Pharmacies, retail outlets, hospitals and polyclinics should have enough face masks and personal protective equipment by 13 April. Those who fail to fulfill this instruction will be held accountable, Chairman of the State Control Committee Leonid Anfimov said on 7 April at a session of the committee, BelTA has learned.
The session was attended by heads of retail outlets, pharmacies and government agencies responsible for production of protective gear. The participants of the session discussed ways to meet the increased demand for certain products as well as the situation on the consumer market in general.
A day before, the State Control Committee looked into the availability of masks and respirators, sanitizers and certain medicines (paracetamol) in pharmacies across the regions and in the city of Minsk. Out of 130 pharmacies, masks and respirators were available only in 33 of them (25%), alcohol-based sanitizers were on offer in 35 of them (27%) and paracetamol in 15 of them (11%). “People jammed the switchboard of the Trade and Antimonopoly Ministry and the State Control Committee with complaints. Most of them dealt with high prices for or absence of protective means, paracetamol, as well as lemons, ginger and garlic,” Leonid Anfimov said.
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He criticized the Bellegprom light industry concern for the failure to fully meet the demand of households for medical masks. He also pointed to the sluggishness of regional authorities who did not use the capacities of service outlets that sew clothing and did not involve the private sector in addressing this issue.
“The production of these medical products does not require any cutting-edge technology or equipment or special skills. At the same time, light industry companies complain of difficulties with product sales and tough competition on the market. Today medical masks sell extremely well and the profitability of sales is good, up to 31%. Therefore, it is unclear why there is so little enthusiasm about it on the part of clothing producers,” Leonid Anfimov said. In his view, this is due to the lack of mobility and flexibility of manufacturers.
However, this is not the case with wheeler dealers who decided to take advantage of the situation. “Mass media call it economic plunder,” Leonid Anfimov said. The monitoring conducted by the State Control Committee revealed price gouging for some products purchased through intermediaries. For example, one pharmacy from Minsk sold Belarus-made hand sanitizers at Br24.96 – the product was purchased through the chain of three mala fide intermediaries, which inflated the price more than three times.
“At the session today the head of state set a task – by Monday all pharmacies, hospitals and polyclinics should have enough personal protective equipment and disinfectants,” the chairman of the State Control Committee emphasized.
“We should make sure that our manufacturers meet the domestic demand in full and that retail outlets sell in-demand products with a minimal margin,” Leonid Anfimov noted.
