The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) has come up with a new initiative to increase the share of Belarusian goods. The project is titled “Every Friday — Native, Our Own”. Representatives of MART presented it at a press conference at the National Press Centre.
According to Deputy Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Aleh Dzikun, the project is aimed at promoting everything Belarusian.
“In principle, absolutely everyone can take part in this campaign. These are retail outlets, individual entrepreneurs, entities providing services to the population, as well as each of us — myself, for example, and you as journalists.
All that is needed is to feel like a Belarusian on Friday, to buy some Belarusian product, to put on Belarusian clothing. And, in fact, you can share this in your social networks using the hashtag #ДзеньРоднагаСвайго.
And today we call on all our trade entities, all food service entities to join this campaign and to truly show that Belarusian goods are the most high-quality, the best, and simply to see what our Belarusian producers are making. For our part, as the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, we will coordinate this project and cover it as broadly as possible,” he said.
Possible ways to take part in the campaign were also outlined by Deputy Head of the Department for Supporting the Leadership and Ideological Work of MART Darja Palazkova.
“You can conditionally come to work wearing clothing or shoes made by a Belarusian manufacturer. You can go to a shop in the evening, buy our local products from domestic producers and prepare some national dish. You can ride in a taxi or on public transport and listen to Belarusian music. And this music can likewise be played in shopping centres, retail venues and service providers.
So here we give both businesses and our citizens the freedom to choose how to join the project — to take a small step in a big common cause. And you can inform us about this using the feedback form posted on our website, which can be accessed via the QR code on our banner. And, apart from the main options we propose, you can create your own Friday and tell us how you joined the project,” she said.
According to Belstat, in January–September the share of Belarusian goods reached 54.9%, up 0.3 p.p. compared to January–June. At the same time, compared to the same period last year, the share decreased by 2.8 p.p.
In food retail, the share of domestic products in January–September amounted to 76.2%, up 0.4 p.p. compared to January–July. Compared to the three quarters of 2024, however, this is a 0.9 p.p. drop.
The share of Belarusian goods in non-food retail was 35.1% in January–September. It also rose by 0.7 p.p. compared to the first half of the year. Yet compared to last year, it fell by 3.2 p.p.
At the press conference, Aleh Dzikun stressed that the campaign proposed by MART is “not about the share, but about the soul”, although he added that the ministry would ultimately like to see an increase in the share of Belarusian goods in retail. However, he did not name any specific target indicators. The project itself has no time limits.
