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When will food cards for the poor be introduced in Russia in 2019? Basic concepts on the topic, the amount allocated, the list of available products, the mechanism for applying for benefits - these aspects are touched upon in the proposed article.

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Unfavorable economic situation in the country has an impact on the well-being of Russians. To date a large number of people and families are considered poor. In this regard, the state is taking various measures to improve the quality of life of citizens.

One of the promising innovations is the provision of social food cards to the population. According to experts, this innovation will improve the economic situation in the country.

general information

The idea of ​​introducing food cards for low-income Russian citizens was put forward by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2015. Today, the spread of this type of assistance no longer seems impossible.

This is the official figure, in practice there are much more. It is estimated that about 15% of the population needs additional government support.

• assistance to low-income citizens of the Russian Federation, large families and other vulnerable categories of people;
• supporting domestic producers, strengthening the Russian economy;
• improving the quality of nutrition of the population.

Main concepts

Basic concepts on the topic of the article are presented in the table:

Who has the right to them

Ration cards will be provided low-income families and citizens in the near future.

To do this, they will need to confirm their predicament financial position, namely, to prove the fact that their monthly income is below the subsistence level established in the subject of residence of the citizen.

To do this, a person must calculate his income as follows:

• low-income citizens;
• large families;
• single mothers;
• unemployed (persons registered at the labor exchange).

Legal basis

The main document regulating the procedure for assignment and registration ration cards— Document of the Ministry of Industry and Trade “Strategy for the development of trade in the Russian Federation for 2014-2016.” and the period until 2020."

It addresses the following issues:

• agricultural markets;
• development of trade in Russia;
• food support for populations considered low-income.

The Ministry is also involved in issues of food cards Agriculture Russian Federation. The main goal is regulation agro-industrial complex and the agricultural market.

Questions you are interested in

Experts believe that the introduction of food cards will significantly improve the situation of citizens of the Russian Federation, and will also support the domestic economy.

These goals will be achieved due to the fact that funds from the state budget can only be spent on Russian-made products.

In 2019-19, it is planned to introduce electronic grocery cards or certificates for the purchase of goods in Russia.

Funds will be transferred to them monthly (different in each region of Russia), which will expire if not used. These cards can be used to pay for essential goods at any grocery store.

What amount will be allocated?

The start of the Ministry of Industry and Trade program in test mode is scheduled for the second half of 2019. The innovation will come into full force in 2019.

The amount of payments per program participant will be about 10 thousand rubles per year. Funds will be credited to electronic cards every month. You can pay with the card in grocery stores like a regular bank card.

However, you cannot transfer funds or withdraw cash from it, since the system will be serviced by points.

The support system will consist of awarding points, with one point being equivalent to one ruble.

Citizens will be provided with special plastic cards, which will receive points monthly (from 850 to 1,200 rubles, depending on the region of residence of citizens). Unspent funds will expire at the end of the month.

The card can be refilled by the holder himself, and about 40% of the amount of his own replenishment will be awarded as a bonus. And withdrawing cash from the card will not be possible in order to avoid spending funds on other needs.

List of products that can be purchased

The provided food cards can only be spent on certain types of goods, without which it is impossible to create a balanced human diet.

These include:

• meat and fish products;
• bread products, flour;
• eggs, dairy products;
• salt, sugar, spices;
• fresh vegetables and fruits;
• dried fruits;
• water;
• vegetable oil.

Also, the number of products provided may include food for pets, human hygiene products (soap, washing powder), seeds and seedlings for summer residents.

The issue of including medicinal products in the list of provided products is being considered. Of course, the benefit will not apply to alcohol and tobacco products.

The important point here is that only Russian-made goods can be purchased with food cards. This rule was introduced to support domestic producers and strengthen the Russian economy.

Mechanism for issuing food cards for the poor

The exact mechanism for issuing food stamps is not yet known. However, it is indisputable that the card will be provided only after the citizen has officially confirmed his low-income status.

The main document required is certificates confirming the low level of family income. You will also need to write an application and undergo an interview with a specialist.

Documents for issuing food cards will need to be submitted to the social protection authorities at the place of residence.

The support will be exclusively targeted, that is, it will be available to people who are officially recognized as poor.

After receiving a food card, you can use it to pay for purchases in grocery stores like a regular bank card.

The only difference is that money cannot be transferred or withdrawn, and only goods that are on the list of acceptable ones can be paid for.

At the end of the month, unused points will expire. This function introduced to avoid hoarding and encourage the population to buy fresh food.

In 2017, food cards with points will appear in Russia; this program will cost the state 240 billion rubles. (about $4 billion). Russian media quote the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, who spoke about the principle of operation of the cards.

The cards will allow low-income people to purchase products that they previously could not afford: fresh chilled meat, fresh chilled fish, fresh vegetables.

There will be no accumulative system; points not spent within a month will be “burned out.”

In addition, this money cannot be cashed.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that 15 million people could become recipients of assistance, monthly payment will be 1400 rubles. It will be possible to purchase goods using the card at any retail outlets working with the national payment system.

According to Manturov, targeted food subsidies will not only help low-income citizens buy goods that are inaccessible to them, but will also protect the state from misuse of allocated funds.

American experience

This federal program assistance to residents of the United States of America who have no or low incomes.

The US Department of Agriculture is responsible for the program. Currently, most of the funds are distributed through plastic cards.

As of October 2016, 43,215,557 people from 21,328,525 households were receiving food assistance.

The average monthly benefit per person was $126.13, per household - $256.93.

The main goal of the preferential food purchase program is to improve the quality of nutrition among low-income citizens.

You can only buy food products with the card; alcohol and cigarettes do not fall into this category; therefore, you cannot spend the allocated money on these goods.

Among the products that you can buy are vegetables and fruits, bread, milk and dairy products, meat and fish, and poultry.

You cannot buy food and pet products, alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, household goods, or live animals.

But you can buy live fish with these cards, since they belong to the food category.

You can buy sweets, confectionery and baked goods.

In addition, cards cannot be purchased in all stores. You also cannot cash this money or buy food with it at fast food restaurants.

However, as practice has shown, families receiving food stamps do not spend more on purchasing food: most of the money saved by exchanging food stamps is spent on other purposes.

As with any system of gratuitous distribution of money, there are cases of corruption and fraud.

Citizens participating in the program begin to hide their additional income to continue receiving government assistance.

Despite the ban on exchanging food stamps for cash, food stamp recipients often collude with sellers and sell them food stamps at a discount, such as a $400 food stamp sold for $200.

This is beneficial both for the recipient of the coupons: he receives not food, but real money, and for the seller: he receives from the budget as compensation full cost coupon.

The result is a significant criminalization of the food stamp industry.

As Vesti.Economy previously wrote, the number of people in the United States receiving food cards has increased significantly over the eight years that Obama has been in power.

When he came to power in 2009, 28,223,000 people were receiving food cards.

In 2016, 44,219,000 people already received food cards. Thus, the increase was almost 16 million people.

Grocery cards in other countries of the world

In particular, ration cards became widespread after the end of World War II.

In the Czech Republic, a card system for basic food products was introduced on October 2, 1939, for fabrics, clothing, shoes and heating oil - in December of the same year. With amendments and additions, it existed until May 31, 1953 and was abolished during the currency reform.

In the UK, ration cards for petrol were abolished in 1950, for sugar and sweets - in 1953, for meat - in July 1954.

In Japan, the rationing system was abolished in 1949, and government price controls were abolished in 1952.

In Israel, the card system was introduced in 1949-1952.

Card-based distribution systems still exist today in some countries.

Thus, the card system is present in countries such as Venezuela and Cuba.

Cuba currently spends more than a billion dollars on food subsidies, which are distributed through ration cards to the population. Cubans pay only 12% of the real cost of food.

You can use it to buy food for about 10 days, but the card is inexpensive: only a dollar a month for one person.

The card system in Cuba was introduced in 1962.

Venezuela, which has been in crisis for years, also has a food stamp system. The card system was introduced in 2014.

With cards you can buy scarce goods - rice, milk, sugar.

Grocery cards in our country

Already this month, the Stolypin Club will present its “Growth Strategy” to the president. The priority is the development of internal competition and avoidance of oil and gas dependence. In addition, it is necessary to create a more favorable economic environment for the infusion of new investments

In our country, the coupon system became most widespread in 1988-1991, when the total shortage reached its peak, and products began to disappear, both meat and ordinary ones, which had not previously been in short supply: sugar, cereals, vegetable oil and others.

The coupon system came to naught from the beginning of 1992 due to the “release” of prices, which reduced effective demand, and the spread of free trade. For a number of goods in some regions, coupons were retained longer.

The decision of the authorities to introduce a system of food cards in our country caused a mixed reaction in society.

There were both critics of this idea, who stated that such a system would lead to the emergence of corruption and fraudulent schemes and would not in any way affect the level of well-being of the poor, as well as supporters who pointed out that such a system could stimulate growth in demand in the country.

In particular, business ombudsman Boris Titov, in an interview with the host of the Opinion program, Evelina Zakamskaya, said:

"Many countries, even prosperous America, have systems in place to support basic demand for everyday goods. Why don't we have this? Why shouldn’t we be given the opportunity to encourage consumers to buy domestic food products? This will give a serious impetus: firstly, it will improve the life of the population, on the other hand, it will stimulate the development of Russian agriculture".

“This would give a little less than 1% to the growth of agricultural volumes. This would (add - editor’s note) several tenths of percentage points to GDP,” he added.

"World" to help

"Payment instrument of the program, electronic food certificate - debit card"World". It can be specially issued at the consumer’s request by any bank, or the consumer can use an existing one,” the press service said.

The ministry pointed out the versatility of the Mir card: it can be used to accrue salaries, stipends, benefits or other payments.

Now the Ministry of Industry and Trade is finalizing the very architecture of the program’s processing - a way to transfer money from the budget to consumers and then to retail outlets.

This will ensure automatic control targeted spending these funds, since the money allocated under the program can only be spent on certain categories of products.

"We and NSPK JSC, the operator of the national payment system"World" - have already found the right one technical solution, which may well operate within the framework of already existing mechanisms processing when paying with bank cards. Only special functions will be added to automatically control whether an acceptable product is purchased or not. If not, the system will not allow such a purchase,” the press service added.

Moreover, the cards can be used in all stores that are ready to work in this system.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has begun the practical implementation of the idea of ​​​​introducing food cards. In June, the department announced a competition for the preparation of analytical materials and justifications for the formation of targeted food assistance to those in need. The tender was won by Optconsult, offering to conduct the study for 4.5 million rubles. The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that analytical data should arrive at the ministry by September, after which officials will begin developing a concept for targeted food assistance. As Optconsult CEO Dmitry Melnikov told Izvestia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade intends to propose changing the approach to identifying those in need of food assistance and providing it only to those whose incomes do not exceed living wage(regardless of the social category of the citizen - pensioner, disabled person, etc.).

As the main form of targeted food assistance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will be offered, according to Melnikov, a transfer to a card Money from the budget, with which the poor can purchase food. Can be used for calculations social cards, already operating in the region, or special bank cards “introduced to implement a targeted assistance program with the participation of one of the banks of the Russian Federation.”

In the event of an unstable market situation, hyperinflation or shortage of certain necessary products in the country, there should be a mechanism for receiving food assistance in in kind, when a citizen will be able to directly receive a set of products using a card,” Melnikov noted.

He said that experts intend to propose a new method for identifying those in need.

Now social support turns out to certain categories of citizens: pensioners, veterans, large families, and so on. If you look at each category, there are citizens with different levels average per capita cash income. It would be fair to provide assistance from the standpoint of the subsistence level, says Melnikov.

According to him, the system being developed proposes issuing food cards to those families in which average per capita income per family member is less than the subsistence level.

From the point of view of guidelines, listed as social or special bank card the amount should raise income to the subsistence level. We will strive for this, but we should proceed from the real possibilities of the budget,” explains Melnikov.

He said that he also considers it necessary to finance food assistance from both regional and federal budget, giving the program federal status.

Melnikov emphasized that the analytical materials of Optconsult, which are being prepared for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will be of a recommendatory nature.

For now these are just proposals. Proposals on which our customer (Ministry of Industry and Trade) must express his opinion. The final decision rests with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other departments,” Melnikov clarified.

Let us remind you that the proposal to enter grocery cards in Russia was contained in the report of the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to a government meeting in October 2014. The official referred to the experience of the United States, where a similar program is already operating. According to it, citizens registered in social services as low-income earn the right to receive a special bank card. The state regularly transfers subsidies for it, which can only be spent on food.

Now some regions already have food assistance cards. They are usually issued to certain categories of the population, regardless of income. This situation is, for example, in Kirov region.

This is a pilot project; cards have been issued to large families in a number of districts of the region. In the future, the program is planned to be extended to the entire region, the ministry reported. social development Kirov region.

General Director of the Institute of Scientific and Social Expertise Sergei Rybalchenko said that in the United States food cards are also issued depending on the income of citizens, and not on their membership in a particular social group.

In Russia, such an approach will require a revision of certain provisions of the existing social policy. The state is unlikely to be able to provide for all the poor. First of all, it is important to provide for families with children - this is the largest category of poor in the country,” says Rybalchenko.

He noted that it would be logical to also direct the targeted food assistance program to help local producers.

It is now assumed that only domestic products can be purchased using cards. In a number of categories, it would be possible to narrow the choice to local producers in order to support them, Rybalchenko noted.

According to Rosstat, in 2014, 11.2% of the Russian population, or 16.1 million people, had incomes below the subsistence level. The cost of living is determined separately for working population, for pensioners and for children. The amount is set by regional authorities quarterly and varies greatly depending on the subject. For example, in Moscow the cost of living is 14.3 thousand rubles (hereinafter - per capita), in the Yamalo-Nenets District - 14,241 rubles, in Sakhalin region- 13,631 rubles, in Tyumen region- 9605 rubles, in the Perm region - 9292 rubles. In Russia as a whole, in the first quarter of 2015 the cost of living was 9,662 rubles.

Don't let the name "food cards" scare you. No, we are not in a deep crisis, like during the war, but the fact of their implementation will help citizens who are classified as low-income. In this way, the state hopes to provide support to domestic producers and somewhat reduce the level of inflation.

A similar innovation is planned for next year, and its main goal will be to save our state from a social collapse. This article will discuss who is entitled to and how to obtain food cards for the poor in 2019.

How will food cards be implemented?

This Government program, designed to provide actual assistance to low-income Russians, is provided in the form of targeted assistance, but not in the form of monetary support, but in the provision of essential goods. Its main goal will be to complete two important functions, one of which is to help those who find it especially difficult today, and the second is to provide support to domestic producers providing consumer goods.

In addition, in this way the state expects to lower the inflation threshold. This will become possible after the need for “real” money decreases. Based on the proposed program, low-income citizens living in the Russian Federation will receive special cards for use.

They will be performed by analogy with bank cards, with monthly accruals in the form of points, that is, money in in electronic format, with their help you can actually shop at a grocery store, as well as for purchasing essential goods, but only made in Russia.

A grocery card can actually be used to pay for the purchase of the following goods:

• dairy and fermented milk products;
• cereals and pasta;
• seasonal fruits and vegetables;
• meat and fish products;
• chicken eggs.

Points spent during a month will not be added up at the end, and at some point they will simply be reset to zero.

Who is entitled to it, how to get food cards

Food cards will be provided to low-income categories of citizens in the near future.

To receive them, you will need proof that your family really needs help from the state and that your monthly income is below the minimum subsistence level established in your region of residence.

For this purpose, some calculations should be made:

• all official income received by each family member is summed up for a three-month period (pensions, scholarships, salaries, etc. are taken into account);
• the resulting number is divided by three, thus getting the average family income per month;
• after this, the value is divided by the number of all members of a given family (both young children and pensioners are taken into account).

The number of citizens in need of such state support includes the following persons:

• people with the status of low-income citizens;
• families with three or more dependent children;
• mothers raising children alone;
• unemployed people officially registered at the labor exchange.

So far, the exact mechanism of the process of obtaining this type of assistance is not entirely clear. One thing is certain: food cards will be issued only after a person receives official confirmation of his low-income status. The documents that must be provided in this case include collected certificates confirming the level of income of a particular family. You also need a handwritten application. All this data should be provided to the authorities ensuring social protection population at the place of actual residence.

A food card is used in a similar way to a bank card, the only difference being that it will not be possible to withdraw funds from it.

Food cards are returning to Russia. The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to introduce them into circulation in 2016 under the guise of a system to support the poor. But this will not be limited to nutrition problems. The agency expects to help domestic producers suffering from falling consumer demand. Low-income Russians will try to restart the stalled economy.

One shot

Food stamps, which in Russia are strongly associated with the Soviet era and shortages, are making a comeback. By September, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will develop a project for introducing food cards. They will become a new tool for supporting the poor. The assistance mechanism should become operational in 2016.

So far, the main parameters of the card system are unknown. It is assumed that it will apply only to perishable goods of Russian origin. Thus, the accumulation of food is excluded: I went to the store, shopped and had dinner with gratitude to the state.

Paper coupons are a thing of the past along with the USSR. People will receive a regular bank card. Once a month, budget money will be received for it. They can only be spent within a certain time and in those stores that wish to join the program. It is not possible to cash out funds or put them aside in reserve: after the allotted period, they are burned out. The amount of support has not yet been announced. But in the Kirov region, where the pilot project has been launched, it is a thousand rubles per month per person.

There is a second problem that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is trying to solve. Cards will help spur consumption. Which means keeping it afloat domestic manufacturer. All this fits perfectly into the import substitution program, for which the Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible. Thus, the department is trying to sit on two chairs: both to help the poor and not to leave producers offended.

Conversations for the poor

The population is really getting poorer. According to the latest Rosstat, real wages (adjusted for inflation) of Russians in April decreased by 13.2 percent compared to April 2014. In nominal terms they the average size increased by only one percent, to 32 thousand 805 rubles. For comparison: in April last year, real payments rose by 3.2 percent, nominal - by 10.8.

Over the past month and a half, inflation has been increasing by 0.1 percent per week. The rise in prices was stopped, but at the cost of reducing the standard of living of the population. With incomes that are rapidly disappearing, citizens can purchase fewer and fewer goods. Consumer activity is falling, and so is the entire economy. After all, consumption was one of the main drivers for its growth.