The Ministry of Industry and Trade has published a list of products that poor Russians can buy with food cards. What kind of items are included in this list, what you need to do to get a ration card, we tell in the "Question and Answer" section.
And how much money will be allocated per month?
Poor citizens will receive points and bonuses on food cards every month. In monetary terms, the balance will be 1,200 rubles (previously, the amount was 1,400 rubles).
A prerequisite is that you need to spend points within a month. Otherwise, they will simply burn out.
What products can be bought with ration cards?
The list will include goods exclusively of Russian production. Namely:
Milk products;
Drinking water;
Vegetable oil;
Dried fruits;
Pasta;
Potato;
The list also includes seedlings, seeds and feed for farm animals. But cigarettes, alcohol and other "harmful" products can not be bought with a card.
In which stores will it be possible to buy goods with a card?
Purchases can be made in any store that decides to become a member of this program. The introduction of a card system for products will increase GDP by 0.8%, the ministry predicts.
How to get this card?
To be eligible for a ration card, you must be classified as indigent. Citizens whose average per capita income is below the subsistence level established in the region will be able to count on this measure of social support.
When recognizing a family as poor, all relatives living together will be taken into account. Usually these are spouses, children, grandchildren and other family members.
You need to collect a certain list of documents. Which one? A lot of paperwork will be required. You will have to start with income statements. Citizens must bring statements of income to the family budget for the last three months. Further, the total income of all able-bodied family members will be divided by three and again by the number of family members. If the total amount is below the subsistence level, the family is recognized as poor.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Social Protection in 2019, more than 22 million citizens live below the poverty line. They belong to the category of the poor - persons whose income does not exceed the subsistence level. To help such people in Russia, special food cards were introduced.
general information
The Ministry of Industry and Trade planned to introduce food coupons - cards intended for the poor - in 2015, but as of today the program has not yet been implemented. Vouchers are issued as part of a special program that aims to:
- support for socially vulnerable families, large families, the poor and the incapacitated;
- strengthening the position of Russian manufacturers in the market;
- improving the quality of products consumed by the population.
Key Concepts
The key definitions of the government program are listed in the table:
Russian legislation includes poor people, large families, and unemployed citizens who are registered with the labor exchange in the concept of the poor.
Do you need on the subject? and our lawyers will contact you shortly.
What are they needed for
The system of social coupons in 2019 provides low-income citizens with the opportunity to purchase minimum food packages for public funds. Cards are issued only to citizens who have submitted documents.
Important! Freelancers and the unemployed who are not registered are not entitled to cards.
Legal framework
Social food cards designed to support poor people will only be introduced in 2019, the latest news about the program focuses on the use of several legal documents:
- , or the Law on the minimum wage.
- Document of the Ministry of Industry and Trade "Strategy for the Development of Trade of the Russian Federation for 2014-2016. and the period up to 2020.
- - the officially employed population can be guided by it.
- - a definition of the concept of low-income was made.
- - the procedure for calculating the average income for a family and single citizens is indicated.
How much coupons will be issued
Next year, program participants will receive food cards with up to 10,000 rubles annually on their balance sheet. Monthly, depending on the income of a citizen and the regional minimum wage, 850-1400 rubles are credited to the account. Funds cannot be accumulated - in a month they will burn out. The list of goods is strictly limited by law.
Interesting to know! The Ministry of Industry and Trade notes that the money burning system will encourage people to buy the necessary products, and not spend them on expensive things.
What products are available
The owner of a card serviced by the Mir payment system can purchase only Russian products, and only goods included in the diet of an average Russian. Food stamps are used to get free:
- meat and fish;
- bread and pastries;
- dairy products;
- water and vegetable oil;
- spices, salt and sugar;
- fruits, vegetables.
In 2019, the full list is not yet known, but the government plans to add pet food, personal care products and household chemicals to it. Sweets for the child, according to the provisions of the program, are surplus, parents pay for them from their own funds.
Important! Social food assistance does not apply to cigarettes and alcohol.
Where could I buy
Next year, food stamps can be used to pay at partner stores of the program. The Ministry of Industry and Trade does not exclude the opening of social canteens, where payments from the poor will be deducted from this card.
How to get food stamps
State bodies have not yet come to a unified procedure for obtaining a food card. The exact algorithm for citizens will be developed only upon the entry into force of the project. Experts consider an approximate course of action:
- Collection of necessary documents - a certificate of belonging to the category of the poor, statements of salary, pensions, scholarships at the place of work, study, from the Pension Fund.
- Submission of a package of papers to the social security authorities at the place of residence or registration of the person.
- Issuing a card to a person.
When will cards be introduced in 2019
Many citizens are interested in the question of when social food cards will be introduced for people from the category of the poor. The government assures that this issue will be resolved in 2019.
Who is eligible to apply for benefits
To prove a difficult financial situation and the ability to receive state assistance, a person must calculate income:
- Add funds from official sources for 3 months - pensions, alimony, scholarships, salaries, compensations.
- Divide this number by 3.
- Divide the result by the number of all family members, including pensioners and children.
In the event that the final number is below the subsistence level, the family is entitled to food cards.
Interesting to know! In 2019, on the basis of and from January 1, establishes a federal minimum wage of 11,280 rubles and a regional minimum wage not less than the federal one.
What is a point payment system
Assistance for low-income persons is accrued in bonus points corresponding to the amount of 850-1400 rubles. Food certificates have several restrictions:
- points are not collected. If a person has not spent all the money in the current month, the account is reset to zero;
- points are not redeemable. Cards are used to pay for purchases only at retail outlets that are partners of the state project.
A citizen can deposit his own money on a card account at a rate of 30-50% monthly.
Important! To date, the government does not specify whether own funds are burned along with points.
Experience of the USSR and foreign countries of past years
Grocery cards are not new for Russia. The system was popular in several states.
USSR
Food coupons began to be issued as early as 1917. Programs started intermittently for reasons of supply crisis. The apogee of the coupon system fell on 1988-1991, when salt and vegetable oil disappeared from store shelves. Since 1992, after the free trade law, certificates have become irrelevant.
USA
Free food has been provided to poor Americans since the early 1970s. Monthly Social Security is $115. There are no plans to abandon the US system.
Great Britain
The program was introduced after the end of World War II due to food shortages. It was reintroduced in 2014.
Cuba
Citizens have been receiving food cards since the 1960s, but now social support is in crisis. Cigarettes have ceased to be included in the list of preferential goods since 2016.
Kirov region
Cards for large families in the amount of 3 thousand pieces. in the Russian Federation were issued only at the regional level.
Trade experts and ordinary Russians like the idea of using ration cards. According to the VTsIOM poll, more than 80% of respondents are in favor of introducing the program. The state budget next year already includes funds for the implementation of the coupon system.
January 16, 2019, 00:47 Jan 16, 2019 00:47 
Food cards for the poor in 2018 will come into use - you can be 99% sure of this. The idea of their distribution was proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for implementation back in the year, but now the head of the ministry, D. Manturov, speaks of the appearance of food cards as a fait accompli. The unfavorable economic situation in the country prompted the government to introduce such a social program for low-income citizens.
Who is eligible to claim the benefit?
The statistics collected by the Ministry of Social Protection in 2018 are appalling: 22 million people (!) live below the poverty line in Russia, out of a total population of 147 million people! At the same time, the Ministry of Social Protection clarifies that it counted only those people who submitted the relevant documents, recognizing themselves as poor - in fact, the figure can be much more impressive. 15% of the population of Russia (every seventh) count the coins in their wallets, trying to scrape together for a loaf of bread.
It is for poor citizens in Russia that food cards are being introduced. Those who can get a food card include people with a monthly income not exceeding the living wage. The subsistence minimum varies depending on the region - for example, in Moscow its size is 15,307 rubles.
An important clarification: the Ministry of Industry and Trade is going to issue food cards only to those citizens who are below the poverty line due to external circumstances and can prove it. Parasites who are able to work, but do not want to, the state will definitely not support. Russians who hide their real income and only pretend to be poor - freelancers, entrepreneurs, owners of subsidiary farms - should not count on help either.
How does a citizen know if he can take part in the ration card program? To do this, he needs to make some simple calculations.
Add up all the income that his family received in the last 3 months. Benefits, subsidies, scholarships should also be taken into account.
Divide the resulting sum by 3 and display the arithmetic mean.
Divide the result by the number of family members (including children and pensioners).
If the final value is below the cost of living, you can safely apply for a food card for the poor in 2018.
What documents are needed to obtain a food card, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has not yet specified. It is known that control over the distribution of cards will be made the responsibility of the social security authorities - a poor citizen should not have a question where to get a grocery card, because he is probably familiar with the address of the local department of social protection. To apply for a benefit, you will have to not only bring the required papers, but also pass an interview - a kind of test for lice. Anyone who receives a food card in Russia will be required to make every possible effort to find a job (in its absence) - in order to avoid the spread of parasitism.
It is expected that the list of citizens eligible for the benefit will be reviewed every 6 months. A poor citizen will have to carry documents confirming his preferential status to social security every six months.
What can be bought?
The owner of the grocery card, alas, will not be able to purchase with its help any products that catch the eye - he will only have access to what the daily diet of a Russian cannot be imagined without. The Ministry of Industry and Trade promises to present the exact list of available products very soon - now it is known for certain that it will include:
Salt, sugar, spices.
Vegetables, fruits, dried fruits.
In addition, social products include pet food, hygiene products (soap, washing powder, etc.), seeds and seedlings.
The exemption will not apply to alcohol and cigarettes. The Ministry of Industry and Trade categorically declares that it is not going to support the bad habits of Russians.
Cardholders will also not be able to spend preferential funds on surplus products, such as candy. A poor citizen who wants to please his child with sweets will have to spend his own money on this. The most controversial position so far is drugs - the Ministry of Industry and Trade has not decided whether to include them in the list of social products.
Those Russians who will be issued food cards should pay attention to one more limitation: they will only be able to pay for Russian products with preferential funds. Due to this restriction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will try to catch up with the second hare - namely, to support domestic producers and give them an advantage in competition with importers.
Point payment system - what is it?
Food certificates will be issued in the Mir payment system. The state will not transfer rubles at all to cards, but bonus points - monthly in an amount equivalent to an amount of 1200 or 1400 rubles. The owner of the food certificate will have to put up with a number of restrictions.
Points cannot be accumulated. If by the end of the month a poor citizen does not spend the bonus rubles in full, the rest of the amount will burn out.
Points cannot be cashed out. You can pay with bonus rubles only in stores participating in the state program. It is expected that from 2018 cards will be accepted in some canteens and cafes.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade clarifies that cardholders will be able to deposit to bonus accounts and personal funds. Why replenish food cards for poor citizens with their hard-earned money? At least for the following reason: the state promises that a citizen will be able to receive from 30% to 50% of the replenished amount every month - this is a pretty solid profit. That's just what will happen to personal funds after a month and whether they will burn out along with bonus rubles, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, apparently, has not yet decided itself.
Experience of the USSR and foreign countries
The distribution of cards for the poor is not at all an innovative solution for a crisis economy. We can say that food cards are returning to Russia - a similar system was already in operation in the USSR.
Grocery cards in the USSR appeared along with the USSR itself - in 1917. The coupon payment system was introduced periodically, but this was not at all due to the general poverty of Russians (as it is now), but to constant supply crises. Many of the products in the Soviet Union were recognized as scarce - they could only be obtained with a special coupon and only in limited quantities (to avoid speculation). The coupon system in the USSR reached its peak in the period 1988-1991, when citizens could not purchase either sugar or sunflower oil. Since 1992, food certificates began to disappear due to the spread of free trade.
But the coupon system is by no means a relic of the past. Nowadays, the practice of providing food certificates to poor citizens is used all over the world - including in developed countries.
In the United States, low-income citizens have been paying food stamps for 50 years, receiving about $115 a month per person. The Americans consider such a system fair and are not going to abandon it.
In the UK, the coupon system was introduced after the Second World War due to food shortages. The program was restarted in 2014.
In Cuba, food cards have been issued to the poor for over 50 years, but now the coupon system on Liberty Island is breathing its last. It is interesting that cigarettes were excluded from the number of preferential goods in Cuba only in 2018.
Food certificates were also introduced in modern Russia- at the regional level. For example, in 2013, 3,000 food cards for families with many children were issued in the Kirov region.
Both market experts and ordinary citizens, for the most part, are positive about the idea of reviving the food card system in Russia for pensioners and other citizens in need of material support. This was confirmed by a survey organized by VTsIOM: almost 80% of respondents were in favor. But if the idea of introducing an analogue of the coupon system into the economy is so good, no matter how you look at it, why is the Ministry of Industry and Trade delaying its implementation? The answer to this question is simple: the state cannot yet find enough money to bring the idea to life. According to preliminary estimates, almost 70 billion rubles will be needed - alas, it is extremely problematic to find such an amount in a country with a crisis economy.
Reading time ≈ 4 minutes
Food stamps have been known since the 1920s, when it was a very difficult time and people got free food in this way. Then the cards were provided for soap products, food, manufactured goods and more.
What will happen to grocery cards in 2019? What's the latest news?
What are grocery cards (coupons)
A free food card is a special document that confirms the right of a certain person to receive a product or article on the basis of a benefit or on the basis of a shortage in the country.
Food cards are also available in other states. Food cards can be called government aid. There are similar food coupons in Ryazan and in the Ryazan region. The Care program offers citizens benefits for household services, the purchase of medicines, chemical goods and food.
Food stamps in the USSRFood stamps in the US, for example, have existed since the 1940s and are still in demand today. About 13% of people use such coupons. A person on an individual plastic card receives an amount determined by the state and can dispose of it for the purchase of food.
Moscow has also introduced special financial assistance to low-income families, where payment for electronic certificates totals 197 thousand rubles.
Product card Latest news in 2019
Food certificates (food stamps) should begin their work in 2019.
The meaning of food stamps will be as follows:
- assistance to poor citizens;
- support for domestic goods;
- decrease in inflation;
- positive economic impact on the country.
The introduction of food cards should save the state from social collapse. According to the World Bank, in 2015 there was a significant increase in inflation, in Russia the number of poor citizens increased by 3 million people.
The number of residents with less income in 2018 was 23 million people.
Food cards for the poor In 2018, only a few categories of citizens have earnings equal to the subsistence minimum:
- working citizens receive 11,160 rubles;
- people of retirement age receive 8469 rubles;
- children receive 10181 rubles.
Almost 16 million people will receive ration cards. Such support will extend to all family members who are entitled to a certificate. Citizens eligible for the certificate will be able to improve economic performance in the country and encourage people to choose Russian-made products. It can be concluded that certificates are beneficial to both parties.
Food coupons How will the food certificate work?
Budget allocations in 2019 will be about 240-320 billion rubles. and will be aimed at supporting the demand of citizens for food. So far, the plans are to allocate funds for 1 food coupon in the amount of 10 thousand rubles.
The program provides for the issuance of food cards (coupons) in 2019 in the form of crediting points to a special social account. Each participant will receive a food coupon in the form of a plastic card. It is envisaged to credit points for each food certificate, approximately 27 points will fall on 1 day. It will not be possible to accumulate or transfer to money, as unused points will be constantly reset to zero.
Participants of the social program will not be able to accumulate "reserves" of points on the card, thereby they will be in a hurry to spend points on perishable products only of domestic production. This is convenient because the chain of production and consumption in Russia will improve, and people will be able to spend their money as they want.
According to social program can earn points The list of products purchased for an electronic certificate has already been approved by the Ministry of Health. The list includes only Russian-made food products, namely:
- all grocery products;
- bread products, flour of all grades;
- dairy;
- vegetables fruits;
- chicken eggs, meat, fish.
Important! It will not be possible to purchase cigarettes, alcoholic products, canned goods or frozen products using food cards in 2019.
As in the “maternity capital” program, cashing out is not provided for and entails criminal liability. Funds from the state will go to Mir. This is done in order to eliminate all types of fraud that are so common today.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told the details of plans to introduce targeted food assistance for the poor, as is customary in many countries around the world. The program should kill two birds with one stone: improve the diet of the poor and help domestic producers. Mainly - to the already prosperous largest agro-industrial holdings.
Citizens in need will receive special cards to which "cash equivalents" - points or bonuses - will be transferred. They will be able to buy almost any domestic products, except for alcohol and tobacco products and other "harmful" products such as coffee, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
After all, these products do not improve the diet, and this is the main social goal of the program. It is no coincidence that the Ministry of Health helped to compile the list of products for the program. The list includes bread, flour, cereals and pasta, potatoes, vegetables and melons, fresh fruits and dried fruits, sugar, salt, drinking water, eggs and vegetable oil, as well as meat, fish, milk and products from them. In addition, the list includes seedlings, seeds and feed for farm animals, which is especially important for the rural population.
The cards can be used in all stores that are ready to work in the central processing system, creating a separate retail network for this project is not required. Points will not be accumulated, they will have to be spent within a month, otherwise they will “burn out”.
To whom and how much
Experts have been discussing for a long time how much money the state can allocate for food cards and who will be able to receive them. In September last year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade estimated the need for the program at 240 billion rubles, and the number of participants at 15-16 million people. However, later the ministry presented a different estimate: in 2017, 70 billion rubles will be allocated to the program, and payments may amount to 1.4 thousand rubles per month. This means that the allocated funds would be enough to support about 4.2 million people during the year.
However, now the amount allocated by the state has been doubled. It is worth allocating 140 billion rubles for the food aid program, said Denis Manturov, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Based on the allocation of 1.4 thousand rubles per month, then with this amount of funding, the program will be able to help about 8.3 million people with purchases.
If 140 billion rubles are distributed among 20 million people (the number of people in need was discussed initially), then they will receive 7,000 rubles a year, or 583 rubles a month. At the same time, the costs of implementing the project and issuing food cards can eat up to 25% of the funds allocated from the budget, says Alexander Shustov, CEO of Money Fanny.
Who will be eligible for a food card is still unknown, the criteria will be determined later. And how much will actually be allocated is also not yet clear, since the program itself is under consideration by the government. Anna Bodrova from Alpari is sure that 140 billion rubles for the purchase of domestic products will not be given, at least because there are no free sums of this order in the budget.
However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has an idea to share the financial burden with the business - product manufacturers. Manufacturers have a reason for this. They will be able to conditionally sell products in half with the state at a discount for a number of categories of citizens, performing a social function. On the other hand, producers will be able to hope that the state will regulate the prices of a number of important social goods less. And, in the end, manufacturers will be able to increase their sales. The main thing is to prove that this is really a product made in Russia.
Program effectiveness
The Ministry of Industry and Trade and other departments insist that this program kills two birds with one stone. On the one hand, it helps to improve the diet of citizens in need. On the other hand, it helps domestic agricultural producers and stimulates consumer demand, and generally supports the Russian economy. In particular, hopes were voiced that each ruble invested in the program could provide an additional 2 rubles for the country's GDP. Such an effect is incorporated in a similar US program for the preferential purchase of food products. Each participant in the program received an average of $125 per month in 2014.
“The overall result of investing in the domestic economy can give a double increase if we calculate the chain of receiving money from consumers to producers, resource providers and logisticians, and then trace its reverse course in the form of deductions from wages and taxes back to the state budget. But again, this is ideal, but in practice everything will depend on the approach to the implementation of the program,” explains Sergey Zvenigorodsky from Solid Management.
However, both social and economic effects have pitfalls. Firstly, Bodrova points out, social support for this program will be short-term, as food prices are growing systematically and constantly. For the program to continue to have a social impact, its funding will need to be constantly increased. Secondly, not all Russians who need appropriate assistance will be able to collect the required amount of papers and certificates.
Of course, there will be some economic effect from the implementation of the program, but not all market players will receive it. “It is not a fact that farmers and small industries will be able to break through in this direction,” says Anna Bodrova.
And in general, experts doubt that this program will have a pronounced impact on GDP. Taking into account the negative dynamics of consumption, caused by still high inflation rates and lagging growth in real incomes of the population, 140 billion rubles will not allow reaching a turning point simply because this is a meager amount on the market, says Alexander Shustov. For comparison: the revenue of only one X5 Retail Group in 2016 amounted to 1.025 trillion rubles, and in general, the retail trade turnover in Russia last year amounted to 28.13 trillion rubles (a drop of 5.2%).
Shustov believes that it would be more efficient from an economic point of view to use these funds to support farmers who are being actively squeezed out of the market by agricultural holdings. “Over 10 years, the number of farms in Russia has decreased by 1.6 times from 285 thousand to 174.5 by 2016 due to the high cost of loans and the fact that they simply cannot get on the shelves of retail chains. At the same time, food production is concentrated in Russia in the hands of 10–15 largest agricultural holdings,” the source explains.
