Belkaapsayuz has introduced new requirements this year for purchasing agricultural produce from the public, requiring sellers to present a passport and a certificate confirming ownership of a private household plot. The requirement applies only to purchases exceeding one tonne of produce and is intended to prevent small-scale resellers from supplying goods. The changes were announced at a press conference at the National Press Center by Belkaapsayuz Deputy Chair Aksana Skinder.
“This year, we have slightly revised the rules governing the procurement of agricultural and crop products from rural residents. When purchasing more than one tonne of crop products, procurement organizations within the consumer cooperative system require the presentation of an identity document as well as a certificate confirming ownership of a household plot.
This approach has been developed over time to prevent small wholesale resellers, who previously could sell goods they had purchased to procurement organizations. It is also intended to strengthen cooperation with rural residents and with those who are genuinely interested in growing produce on their own household plots. As I mentioned earlier, this concerns single-variety produce.
We want to be sure that we are purchasing from one individual or one farming enterprise produce that is not a mixture of different varieties within a single batch, but rather a single variety of high-quality produce grown on a private household plot,” she said.
According to Skinder, Belkaapsayuz paid 78.2 million Belarusian rubles to private individuals for agricultural produce during the first half of the year alone. The organization purchased 6,000 tonnes of potatoes, 11,000 tonnes of vegetables, more than 4,500 tonnes of fruits and berries, as well as 20 tonnes of wild-harvested products.
The deputy chair also announced the procurement prices. As of July 30, the consumer cooperative system was purchasing produce from the public at the following minimum prices:
- potatoes — from 0.8 rubles per kilogram,
- cucumbers — from 1 ruble per kilogram,
- tomatoes — from 2.5 rubles per kilogram,
- bilberries — from 6 rubles per kilogram,
- red currants — from 1.5 rubles per kilogram,
- black currants — from 3 rubles per kilogram,
- cherries — from 2.5 rubles per kilogram,
- cultivated blueberries — from 7 rubles per kilogram,
- chanterelle mushrooms — from 9 rubles per kilogram.
Windfall apples are expected to be purchased at 0.15–0.20 rubles per kilogram. Skinder noted that procurement prices change regularly. For some products, such as wild berries, prices may even change several times during the course of a single day.