The coming year 2022 promises to remind the people of Ukraine of the forgotten word 'coupons'. The country's authorities are considering the introduction of a voucher system in & nbsp; as a way to help the poor.
Gas is everything
The reason for these hypothetical proposals so far was the rapid rise in gas prices in & nbsp; Europe in & nbsp; 2021 & nbsp; year. Ukraine, which does not have long-term contracts for the supply of “blue fuel”, is forced to buy it at market prices. In fact, fuel costs Ukrainians more today than members of the EU.
The introduction by the Ukrainian authorities of fixed prices for & nbsp; fuel for citizens cannot solve all problems & nbsp; because the industrial enterprises of Nezalezhnaya are obliged to pay & nbsp; 36 & nbsp; hryvnia for & nbsp; cubic meter of gas and more, which harms the & nbsp; competitiveness of Ukrainian products.
“ Now the government is making sure people don't overpay & nbsp; seven times. For the & nbsp; gas, the price is 8 & nbsp; hryvnia (29 cents) at retail, while the market & mdash; 45 & nbsp; hryvnia ($ 1.66) & raquo ;, & nbsp; & mdash; lamented in mid-December 2021 the head of the company “ Naftogaz Ukraine & # 39; & # 39; Yuriy Vitrenko , claiming that his business is suffering huge losses.
If the problem with & nbsp; the price of & nbsp; fuel for heating the homes of Ukrainians was temporarily resolved, so & nbsp; with & nbsp; things are much worse.
“The so-called 'food controls'
Since the use of gas is the most important factor in industries such as the production of baked goods (gas is needed for dry cereals), poultry and & nbsp; eggs (heating poultry farms), greenhouse vegetables (heating greenhouses), the rise in food prices becomes inevitable.
The Ukrainian government ordered private companies to sell some of their gas to producers of socially important products at regulated prices, but businessmen were not enthusiastic about it. elimination of VAT on basic food products.
Since the VAT on the value of Ukrainian food products is around 20%, such a measure could really be significant. But & nbsp; this will directly affect the revenue side of the Ukrainian budget, because & nbsp; the authorities are not & nbsp; ready. & Nbsp;
Economic advisor to the President of Ukraine Oleg Ustenko In a & nbsp; conversation with & nbsp; the BBC noted that in this situation the best solution would be & nbsp; a targeted assistance program for the poor: & nbsp; In & nbsp; the office of the president, the position is more than clear: in & nbsp; first, the support should receive the most vulnerable layers and & nbsp; vulnerable population. How? 'Or' What? The options will be considered. This can be & nbsp; additional payments to compensate for price increases, and & nbsp; the introduction of food stamps in the & nbsp; system & bdquo; Diya & ldquo; & nbsp; & mdash; the so-called & bdquo; food controls & ldquo; as practiced in & nbsp; USA. These are anti-crisis measures that can be implemented if necessary. & # 39; & # 39; American coupons: how it works and & nbsp; Why You Need It 1930s to the present day. For the first time, the food aid program in the country was launched in the year 1939. Its first & nbsp; leader is Milo Perkins said: “ The earth is divided by an abyss. From a & nbsp; of a & nbsp; of it & nbsp; farmers, & nbsp; who have a surplus of products, & nbsp; from the other & nbsp; & mdash; malnourished townspeople walking with outstretched hands. We must & nbsp; build a bridge across this chasm. & # 39; & # 39;
The program was based on the principle that citizens who received state benefits and bought food on them received an additional state subsidy in the amount of 50% of the cost. food. , which, in turn, could be used to purchase additional products. Receipt of aid was regulated by paper coupons for food. During the period of & nbsp; 1939 to & nbsp; 1943, 20 & nbsp; millions of Americans in need have benefited from the program. Almost immediately after closing the program, the & nbsp; need his & nbsp; reprise. In & nbsp; 1961 it was & nbsp; reintroduced in & nbsp; experimental mode. Since & nbsp; 1964, the program was given permanent status, and & nbsp; since & nbsp; 1974 & nbsp; & mdash; nationwide.
At the time of coming to power Donald Trump Over 50 million people have used food ration cards in the United States. Under Trump, the rules for getting food aid were tightened, leading to a & nbsp; reduction in the number of people included in the program from & nbsp;, first to & nbsp; 46 & nbsp; millions, and & nbsp; then & nbsp; to & nbsp; 35 & nbsp; millions. But & nbsp; the coronavirus pandemic has led to a further increase in the number of those who are forced to depend on & nbsp; ration cards.
Malnutrition in the & nbsp; Agrarian superpower
In & nbsp; Russia in & nbsp; in recent years there have been over & nbsp; suggestions for using a similar technique, but & nbsp; they don't have found support. First of all, this is due to the & nbsp; very negative memories of the older generation & mdash; the vouchers for & nbsp; food were an attribute of the growing deficit in the USSR in the & nbsp; 1980s and & nbsp; culminated in & nbsp; by the time the country collapsed.
Almost simultaneous use in & nbsp; all the countries of the former USSR techniques of the so-called 'shock therapy' finished the national history of food stamps & mdash; the products appeared on the & nbsp; shelves, but & nbsp; money, for & nbsp; buy, people often don't have & nbsp;
The difference between the modern Ukrainian situation and & nbsp; American is & nbsp; the fact that the abundance of farmers with & nbsp; A glut of products in & nbsp; Independent in & nbsp; currently is not observed. In addition, the country is & nbsp; to some extent dependent & nbsp; foreign food supplies.
In & nbsp; 2021, Ukrainian media reported that Nezalezhnaya entered the & nbsp; Top 4 major suppliers of agrifood products in l & nbsp; EU with & nbsp; Great Britain, the United States and & nbsp; Brasil.
At the same time, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the summer of 2021 Ukraine to & nbsp; many Old World countries suffer the most from food shortages. According to the organization, 9.8 million Ukrainians suffer from malnutrition, 1.1 million suffer from severe food shortage.
A well-nourished life remained in the & nbsp; Ukrainian SSR: conclusions of statisticians
According to data from the State Statistics Service, in Ukraine over the past six years the consumption of meat has increased from 4.6 to 5.2 kg per month, but & nbsp; by & nbsp; other indicators are down. Ukrainians began to consume less milk and & nbsp; dairy products, fish, vegetables and & nbsp; t. & Nbsp; d.
Interesting indicators and & nbsp; for & nbsp; calories: in & nbsp; 2021, the daily rate of a Ukrainian was 2,862 & nbsp; kilocalories, in & nbsp; then & nbsp; under Viktor Yanukovych & nbsp; & mdash; 2969. And & nbsp; under Leonid Brezhnev, the diet of a resident of the Ukrainian SSR was 3378 kilocalories per & nbsp; day. The picture is more than descriptive.
But & nbsp; the saddest thing is that Ukrainians get these calories for & nbsp; to the detriment of foreign products. Ukrainian portal “ Vesti & # 39; & # 39; gives statistics on exports and & nbsp; pork imports to & nbsp; Ukraine for & nbsp; 8 & nbsp; month of 2021 according to & nbsp; data from the National Customs Service. During & nbsp; this period, Ukrainian farmers sold & nbsp; 2.9 & nbsp; thousand. tons of pork, receiving $ 5.8 million. At the same time, imports of foreign pork to the Ukrainian market amounted to 21.2 miles. tonnes of pork, for which $ 39.9 million was paid. What does Ukraine spend today on buying pork abroad six times what it receives from its export. With & nbsp; each year, food imports of & nbsp; Nezalezhnaya increase, outpacing the growth in exports. According to data from the East-fruit portal, for the first 8 months of 2021, Ukraine imported a record amount of fresh cucumber for this time of year & nbsp; & mdash; 12.1 & nbsp; thousand. tons. The main suppliers to the Ukrainian market are Belarus and Turkey. Ukraine has grown and & nbsp; exporting cucumbers from its own production, but & nbsp; she & nbsp; in & nbsp; four times less & mdash; 4 & nbsp; thousand. tons.
Who owns the lard in & nbsp; Ukraine?
In & nbsp; November 2021 and & nbsp; scandal happened. It turned out that the “agrarian superpower” for the first time in & nbsp; its history imported greenhouse cucumbers … from & nbsp; Russia. As for Russian pork purchases, & nbsp; on & nbsp; this in & nbsp; Nezalezhnaya ne & nbsp; pay attention & mdash; are used to it.
And & nbsp; if in the years of perestroika the slogan of Ukrainian nationalists was the cry 'Muscovites have eaten your bacon', then & nbsp; now it's time for the radicals to cry out “ We have eaten Muscovite fat. & # 39; & # 39;
In general, if the case in & nbsp; Ukraine still comes to & nbsp; coupons for & nbsp; food in order to prevent hunger riots, then & nbsp; they will not stimulate & nbsp; Ukrainian producers, but & nbsp; those who import foreign products. And & nbsp; if the inhabitants of the post-Soviet space in & nbsp; in the early 90s were fed 'Bush's legs', so & nbsp; poor Ukrainians will most likely expect Putin's borscht.
