District officials have been approaching the owners of mom and pop grocery stores in Moscow in recent weeks and pressuring them to sign a cryptic contract with the city.
The contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times, obliges owners in turn to sign a second contract within four days whenever City Hall deems this "necessary." The second contract covers "the purchase, storage and sale of goods for government needs."
Some store owners contacted for this report interpreted the contracts as a first step by the city to take control of the lucrative retail alcohol market.
"I am almost certain the second contract will be about alcohol," a store owner said, adding that it would be simpler for the city to take over existing retailers than to build a network of state-owned liquor stores from the ground up.
All of the store owners contacted for this report spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from district officials.
Owners said they had no direct proof of the link to liquor sales. They based their assumption on conversations with other businesspeople and on the timing of the contracts' appearance.
Store owners first began receiving the contracts earlier this month, when the State Duma started talking in earnest about creating a state alcohol monopoly.
Some 11,000 retailers are licensed to sell alcohol in Moscow, where annual alcohol sales total more than $800 million, according to the National Union of Alcohol Market Participants.
Others see the contract as further evidence of corruption in city government.
The All-Russia Civil Congress, a nonprofit organization, has received complaints from several Moscow businesspeople about the contracts and plans to demand answers from the city's economic security department, which deals with corruption.
"Businesspeople are being treated like cattle," said Ilya Khandrikov, the organization's entrepreneurship coordinator. "They are frightened of everything and live as if they were on a volcano, not knowing what to expect tomorrow," he said.
The owner of a mid-sized grocery story in central Moscow said: "No one explained why I had to sign this contract or what it was about, but I was told to make up my mind in a hurry."
She said she had been given the contract at the office of her district government. She was also told not to show the contract to anyone.
The Moscow Times has confirmed that the contracts are being distributed in the central and southwest administrative districts.
When asked on Wednesday to comment on the contracts, Vladimir Malyshkov, head of the city government department that regulates retail sales and services, denied that they were connected to the sale of alcohol.
"This is about government purchasing," he said without elaborating.
Another city official, who declined to give her name, claimed that the contract was classified. "How did you even get this?" she asked. "This is only meant for internal use." When asked to explain, the official said the issue was a "military secret."
A lawyer who inspected the contract challenged this claim, however.
Oleg Arkhipov, a senior attorney with the law firm of Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners, said the contract contained no information remotely resembling a state or commercial secret. Moreover, because the contract mentions private businesses, which are not part of the city government, it could not be intended for internal government use only.
Arkhipov said the contract "would not hold up in court" because it failed to specify the terms of the agreement, adding that this omission violated the Civil Code.
The vague wording in the contract could refer to the purchase, sale or storage of just about anything, Arkhipov said.
A store owner in the Khamovniki district said the terms of the contract were hopelessly unclear. "What sort of 'necessity' is it that could arise whenever the government decides? Are we preparing for war?"
Another owner said he was concerned by the fact that the contract did not specify the sort of services owners might be required to perform.
Despite the vagueness of the contract, store owners say they have little choice but to sign.
"How can you say no to the people in power," one owner said. The city can exert pressure on business owners by threatening to raise rents, he said.
Owners of small stores in central Moscow pay on average from $1,700 to $2,000 per square meter each month in rent, according to real estate company CB Richard Ellis Noble Gibbons.
The contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times, obliges owners in turn to sign a second contract within four days whenever City Hall deems this "necessary." The second contract covers "the purchase, storage and sale of goods for government needs."
Some store owners contacted for this report interpreted the contracts as a first step by the city to take control of the lucrative retail alcohol market.
"I am almost certain the second contract will be about alcohol," a store owner said, adding that it would be simpler for the city to take over existing retailers than to build a network of state-owned liquor stores from the ground up.
All of the store owners contacted for this report spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from district officials.
Owners said they had no direct proof of the link to liquor sales. They based their assumption on conversations with other businesspeople and on the timing of the contracts' appearance.
Store owners first began receiving the contracts earlier this month, when the State Duma started talking in earnest about creating a state alcohol monopoly.
Some 11,000 retailers are licensed to sell alcohol in Moscow, where annual alcohol sales total more than $800 million, according to the National Union of Alcohol Market Participants.
Others see the contract as further evidence of corruption in city government.
The All-Russia Civil Congress, a nonprofit organization, has received complaints from several Moscow businesspeople about the contracts and plans to demand answers from the city's economic security department, which deals with corruption.
"Businesspeople are being treated like cattle," said Ilya Khandrikov, the organization's entrepreneurship coordinator. "They are frightened of everything and live as if they were on a volcano, not knowing what to expect tomorrow," he said.
The owner of a mid-sized grocery story in central Moscow said: "No one explained why I had to sign this contract or what it was about, but I was told to make up my mind in a hurry."
She said she had been given the contract at the office of her district government. She was also told not to show the contract to anyone.
The Moscow Times has confirmed that the contracts are being distributed in the central and southwest administrative districts.
When asked on Wednesday to comment on the contracts, Vladimir Malyshkov, head of the city government department that regulates retail sales and services, denied that they were connected to the sale of alcohol.
"This is about government purchasing," he said without elaborating.
Another city official, who declined to give her name, claimed that the contract was classified. "How did you even get this?" she asked. "This is only meant for internal use." When asked to explain, the official said the issue was a "military secret."
A lawyer who inspected the contract challenged this claim, however.
Oleg Arkhipov, a senior attorney with the law firm of Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners, said the contract contained no information remotely resembling a state or commercial secret. Moreover, because the contract mentions private businesses, which are not part of the city government, it could not be intended for internal government use only.
Arkhipov said the contract "would not hold up in court" because it failed to specify the terms of the agreement, adding that this omission violated the Civil Code.
The vague wording in the contract could refer to the purchase, sale or storage of just about anything, Arkhipov said.
A store owner in the Khamovniki district said the terms of the contract were hopelessly unclear. "What sort of 'necessity' is it that could arise whenever the government decides? Are we preparing for war?"
Another owner said he was concerned by the fact that the contract did not specify the sort of services owners might be required to perform.
Despite the vagueness of the contract, store owners say they have little choice but to sign.
"How can you say no to the people in power," one owner said. The city can exert pressure on business owners by threatening to raise rents, he said.
Owners of small stores in central Moscow pay on average from $1,700 to $2,000 per square meter each month in rent, according to real estate company CB Richard Ellis Noble Gibbons.
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