Havana/The Cuban Government has selected 1,913 wineries, just 16% of the more than 12,000 that make up the rationed market network, so that they continue to function as such and serve the most vulnerable people. At the same time, some others are transformed into neighborhood markets, although authorities have not said how many establishments will end up under that model.
Marpessa Portal de Villiers, general director of Merchandise Sales of the Ministry of Domestic Trade, confirmed this Tuesday in the program Making Radio, on Radio Rebelde, that “not all” wineries will become Neighborhood Markets. For now, 47 establishments operate under this format.
In the Neighborhood Markets too changes who manages the premises. They can be left in the hands of state companies, MSMEs, non-agricultural cooperatives and self-employed workers. Management is delivered through leasing or bidding, with priority for those who already worked in those establishments.
Those who assume the management of a Neighborhood Market can benefit from tax advantages and be exempt from paying rent.
Those who assume the management of a Neighborhood Market can benefit from tax advantages and be exempt from paying rent. In exchange, they must market the product nomenclature defined by the Government, a condition that, according to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, should favor greater supply and lower prices.
While reorganizing part of the commercial network, the State continues to use traditional warehouses to distribute the little that arrives through rationing or donations. Portal de Villiers reported the delivery of a module with five pounds of rice from a Chinese donationin addition to a pound of sugar and another of peas, the latter at a cost, in several provinces of the country.
Free rice is distributed in Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Isla de la Juventud; In Mayabeque, according to the official, the distribution has already concluded. One kilogram of black beans donated in Havana, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo is also delivered.
Until now, neighborhood markets offer prices almost as high as the informal market
The initial experience of the Neighborhood Markets, however, has so far shown that the new model offers prices almost as high as the informal market. At Ayestarán, inaugurated at the end of September in Havana, a liter of oil was around 2,600 pesos, a kilogram of powdered milk cost 4,500, rice 800 and black beans 600, prices that caused protests among customers over an offer they considered expensive and scarce.
The contrast with the traditional winery is even greater. In May, 14ymedio confirmed that several state establishments in Havana dedicated to the booklet remained practically empty, after years of delays in the basic basket and a fuel crisis that further aggravated the supply. In some cases, official slogans took up more space than products.
The Neighborhood Markets were born precisely in the midst of this deterioration. The regulations approved in August establish the sale of 16 basic foods and five hygiene products, an opening that ends the state monopoly on part of the retail and wholesale trade, although without resolving access to foreign currency or guaranteeing supply.
