City's Markets Losing Foreign Accent

Russian farmers are flocking to Preobrazhensky Market in northeast Moscow, filling stalls where foreign vendors used to hawk their produce.

The farmers are coming in response to the government's ongoing effort to rid the country's markets and kiosks of foreign workers by April 1.

And Preobrazhensky Market is having trouble keeping up with demand, said Nikolai, the market's director of sales, who declined to give his last name.

Lyudmila, 38, a trader from Tambov who also declined to give her last name, travels to the market roughly once a month to sell carrots, potatoes, beets and cabbage.

Although Tambov is some 500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, Lyudmila said she could make twice as much selling her vegetables in Moscow than at smaller markets in Tambov. Her carrots sell for 8 rubles (30 cents) per kilogram in Tambov, but the price in Moscow is 15 rubles.

"It's very far, and I don't like to travel such a distance," she said. "But our family income has doubled."

Nikolai said Russian farmers should have been given preferential treatment long ago. "For me, this quota law is too late coming," he said.

Preobrazhensky was not raided by police like so many other markets in the city, Nikolai said. "We had a few Georgians," he said. "But everything was handled very politely."

Signs on three of the market's outdoor pavilions read: "Stalls for private farmers."

"Everyone knows what that means: Just for Russians," Nikolai said.

Preobrazhensky appears to be an exception to the rule, however. Other produce markets in the city have been unable to replace evicted foreign traders.

Some Moscow markets are filled to just between 20 percent and 40 percent of capacity as they wait for Russian vendors to move in, said Vladimir Malyshkov, head of the City Hall department for retail markets and services.

Several stalls at a small, covered market near the Belorusskaya metro station were standing empty Thursday as the result of the city's new quota system, under which half of all stalls in produce markets are reserved for Russian farmers.

A Tajik fruit seller in an adjacent stall said he knew Azeri vendors who wanted to fill the empty slots but who had been turned down.

"Russians don't like this kind of work. It's too hard," said the vendor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution from the market's owners.

Despite such mixed success at the city level, the federal government is pushing ahead with tough new regulations on foreign workers.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov signed a decree that imposed a total ban on foreign vendors in all markets, kiosks and other small retail outlets as of April 1 next year.

While some food vendors will remain until next April, foreigners will be banned from the retail trade in pharmaceuticals and alcohol Jan. 1, 2007.

During a transition period from Jan. 15 to April 1, the share of foreigners in small retail outlets is set to fall to 40 percent, Fradkov told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the president's Novo-Ogaryovo residence last week. The transcript of their meeting was posted on the Kremlin's official web site.

Fradkov said some changes could be made to the new regulations after 2007 if the lack of migrant workers resulted in labor shortages.

Putin told Fradkov that he saw no reason to amend the decree down the line.

"This is not a sector of the economy where we have a labor shortage," Putin said.

Malyshkov, of the city's department for retail markets and services, told a different story. He said Moscow would have trouble filling vacancies in the retail sector without migrant workers.

"I shudder to think what would happen if the Georgians, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Azeris leave this sector," Malyshkov said.

Roughly one-quarter of the city's work force -- 1.47 million people -- are currently employed in the retail sector, he said. But there is already a deficit of 60,000 workers in low-paid, physically demanding retail jobs, he said.

Preobrazhensky Market still employs traders from Central Asia, who often act as middlemen, Nikolai the director said.

The small merchants buy fruits and vegetables from producers at various points in the city, bring them to the market and sell them. Some Russian traders do the same, he said.

Malyshkov said wholesalers, who buy agricultural products in the countryside and supply retailers, are essential in major cities like Moscow. Few farmers have the time to make the journey to markets in the city and to obtain all the required health permits to sell their produce, he said.

"Farmers don't have time to drive to the markets. That's not their job. Their job is to plant, to plow and to milk cows," he said.

Malyshkov said it was unrealistic to assume that farmers would replace all of the middlemen who currently provide the city with food, many of whom come from the South Caucasus or Central Asia.

"These vendors should be allowed to legalize their status and come back to trade," Malyshkov said.