Belarus’ Trade Ministry appoints ad hoc group to assist public catering during pandemic

<p> MINSK, Jan 25 - PrimePress. The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) of Belarus has formed an interdepartmental ad hoc group to support and develop public catering during the COVID-19 pandemic and to comprehensively address pressing issues in industry, MART’s press office reports. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The group includes representatives of the Ministries of Health, Economy, Finance, Energy, Taxes and Dues, the Minsk Oblast and Minsk City Executive Committees, the Belarusian State Institute of Metrology, sectoral associations and other stakeholders. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The financial standing of economic entities engaged public catering has significantly deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of a number of catering facilities. The catering turnover in 2020 dropped by 20% year on year in comparative prices. Revenues from sales of goods, works and services decreased by 9% year on year in January-November 2020. The share of loss-making entities increased in January-November 2020 4.4-fold year on year to 50.6%,” reads the report. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The group has examined proposals of the business community aimed at minimizing restrictions established by local executive and administrative bodies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection; regulating non-stationary catering and mobile catering facilities, and considered the legal regulation in this area. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to MART, the ad hoc group is working on proposals to improve the legal regulation tools applied in public catering and to reduce administrative barriers to the industry. End </p>

2021-01-26

Primepress