The Crimean Bridge is open, but prices do not fall: What are officials doing wrong?

The government of Sevastopol reported that budget revenues from the placement of non-stationary retail facilities (NTO) increased 3 times over 20 years.

And this despite the fact that the number of NTOs has decreased. During the year, 971 stalls were dismantled, the main department of the consumer market said. Despite this, the collected rent increased from 24,1 million rubles in 2017 to 102,1 million rubles in 2018.

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The secret of bureaucratic success is simple, it was again achieved at the expense of ordinary entrepreneurs, and not in a completely honest way. In March of this year, the government adopted a new methodology for calculating rental costs (NTO). As a result, payments increased on average three to five times, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

But that is not all. Entrepreneurs only found out about the changes in the summer, when they already owed the city significant sums, which, moreover, were racked up with fines. Desperate people turned to the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for Crimea and Sevastopol.

On September 3, the Federal Antimonopoly Service adopted a resolution that the government of Sevastopol violated antimonopoly legislation and created discriminatory conditions for entrepreneurs. The government should have corrected the situation within 55 days, but instead decided to go to court. However, to no avail.

Based on the results of consideration of the claims of the government of Sevastopol in the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Crimea on October 30, the government’s claim was recognized as having no legal basis. However, the rental situation still has not changed.

In parallel with the FAS proceedings, another trial is ongoing. Andrey Larionov, director of the 220-M LLC service station, filed a lawsuit against the city government. His rent was increased 20 times - up to 300 thousand rubles.

With the support of the city business ombudsman Timofey Smirnov, he went to court, where a preliminary hearing had already taken place. A petition was filed to attract two more co-plaintiffs - two business entities who filed similar claims. In total, in Sevastopol, the problem of increasing fees for placing NTOs affected, according to a rough estimate, at least 1000 entrepreneurs. This means that we can predict that the number of claims will increase significantly.

But all this does not stop the government of Sevastopol. It announces another attraction of greed. Now entrepreneurs who have been paying exorbitant rents almost all year will have to prove their right to business at an auction. They will pass next year for the right to conclude contracts for 5 years.

Mockery of business has become the main focus of the work of city officials, entrepreneurs joke sadly. This year, Sevastopol turned out to be the Russian record holder for closed shopping centers (the largest of them, “Monsoon,” is still not open). Popular city markets are literally being bulldozed. In the fall, officials disrupted the work of city transport, forcing private carriers to transport numerous Sevastopol pensioners and without providing any compensation.

Is it any wonder that the economy responded to this with a sharp increase in prices. The consumer price index in the city turned out to be the highest in Russia – 103%. And the market for paid services decreased by 21%. And all this in the year of the opening of the Crimean Bridge, from which everyone expected an impetus for economic development.