“We really hope that this year we will start with this program,” he said.

At present, the food aid program has already passed the main stages of coordination with the departments. supported the program, the next step is to finalize it with the Ministry of Finance, Manturov added.

One of the objectives of the program, he said, is to provide targeted support to those categories of citizens who cannot afford to purchase a certain set of food products. For example, fresh chilled meat, fresh chilled fish, fresh vegetables.

“To stimulate this possibility, we came up with an initiative to introduce food subsidies through a system of targeted support. Such a system works in many countries of the world,” Manturov said.

The minister stressed that this is not a funded system and it would be more correct if citizens spend the allocated funds on domestic products in full. “If you don’t spend this money within a month, it burns out,” he said.

Strategy-2017

The Ministry of Industry and Trade began talking about the Food Aid Strategy back in the fall of 2015. It involves the support of certain categories of citizens by creating a special card.

The launch of the food card program for poor citizens may require 240 billion rubles, said the deputy head of the ministry.

According to him, funding is expected from the federal and regional budgets, the number of potential participants in the program is about 15-16 million people.

The costs of the program were estimated six times lower - at 40 billion rubles, the head of the ministry said in the fall of 2016. He also said that his department is working on the creation of a mechanism for off-budget financing of the program, since there are no corresponding funds in the budget yet.

The card for low-income citizens will be an "electronic buyer's card" to which funds will be credited. They can be spent on certain types of goods and products, in particular, on fresh perishable domestic products.

The program currently includes meat, dairy, fish products, vegetables and fruits, eggs and greens.

Cereals and canned meat are excluded. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not rule out expanding the list to include frozen fish and meat products. Benefits will not apply to imported goods and products.

It was also noted that in the food program electronic cards All retail outlets that are connected to the central processing system of the program will be able to participate, the program will be supervised by one of the largest banks in the country.

The program can “ensure budgetary efficiency in the amount of at least 2 rubles. contribution to GDP for every ruble invested in the program,” Evtukhov reported. In addition to helping those in need, the program will support demand for Russian food, trade and Agriculture, plans the ministry.

Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade expected that the buyer's electronic food card program could start operating in the second half of 2016.

No money, no program

This program should not be handled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, but by the Ministry of Labor and social protection, says Sergey, head of the Center for Analysis of Social Programs and Risks of the Institute. According to the economist, if this program is really aimed at social support of the population, then the relevant ministry should deal with it.

“I understand why the Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to implement this program - on the other hand, this is support for a domestic manufacturer. But, in my opinion, the domestic manufacturer is not experiencing any special problems now: imports have decreased, reoriented to other countries, own production has really grown,” the expert adds.

If the program is launched, then, according to Smirnov, it should correlate with other programs to support the poor, which are being implemented in Russia. “I am annoyed by the lack of interaction between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and this is unreasonable, assistance can go to those who do not really need it, and those who need it may not receive it,” the economist sums up.

The idea of ​​the Ministry of Industry and Trade is reminiscent of the American Food Stamp Program (a program of preferential purchase of products), when they give limited consumption coupons for which you can buy food, said Natalya Zubarevich, director of the regional program of the Independent Institute for Social Policy.

What the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes is “concerning support for industry, not support for the population,” because the program will force people to buy certain types of products, she said.

“Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. Whether there should be even more incentive to buy domestically when incomes continue to decline is a big question for me. Poor people don’t have much choice; they don’t buy pesto sauce and other delicacies anyway. To what extent this will support the Russian industry is a mystery to me,” says Zubarevich.

Both experts drew attention to the fact that information on the allocation of budget money for the food security program has not yet appeared. Gazeta.Ru did not respond to the relevant question and other inquiries about the possible configuration of the program.

If the corresponding expenses were included in the current version of the budget, the Ministry of Industry and Trade would have announced this at the end of the year, Smirnov from the Higher School of Economics believes. Zubarevich also wondered about the sources of funding. “If this is additional money for Russian consumers, then the question is where will the money come from? What's this, additional funds federal budget, which are not? Until there is an answer to this question, there is nothing to discuss, ”she concluded.

In the Ministry of Industry and Trade, additional questions about the program and its financing were also left unanswered.

Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that the program to help the poor citizens of the country is still under discussion with interested departments. It is necessary to allocate funds from the budget for it, and, in addition, it is necessary to prepare a system for selecting those in need of support.

ON THIS TOPIC

After that, Manturov noted, it is possible to talk with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Agriculture about the amount of funds required for the program. "According to our preliminary calculations, each invested budget ruble will give plus one ruble for the economy as a whole. The program itself should be effective," the minister explained.

Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade explained how the project for the introduction of food cards will be implemented in practice. Low-income Russians will be given special cards with points that can be spent exclusively on food. At the same time, only domestic food products without harmful additives will be on the list of products allowed for purchase. It will be impossible to buy any alcoholic drinks on cards for the poor.

The list includes flour, dairy, meat, fish products, cereals, pasta, potatoes, vegetables and melons, fruits and dried fruits, sugar, salt, drinking water, eggs, vegetable oil, meat, fish, milk.

Food cards can be used in all stores participating in the assistance program. The system will operate on the basis of Mir bank cards. It will not be possible to cash out points from ration cards. It will not be possible to accumulate them: with the end of the calendar month, they will burn out. It was assumed that such cards will be put into effect as early as 2016, but the program was postponed.

The only question that still remains unresolved is: what are the criteria for poor Russians to receive such cards? For example, in order to receive subsidies for housing and communal services, there is a lower income threshold for each family member. In order to designate such a line when issuing food cards, it is supposed to fix the term "neediness" in the legislation.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has begun the practical implementation of the idea of ​​introducing grocery 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 the Optconsult company, offering to conduct a study for 4.5 million rubles. The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that analytical data should be received by the ministry by September, after which officials will develop a concept for targeted food assistance. As Dmitry Melnikov, the general director of Optconsult, told Izvestia, they intend to propose to the Ministry of Industry and Trade that they change the approach to determining those in need of food assistance and provide it only to those whose incomes do not exceed the subsistence level (regardless of the social category of a citizen - a pensioner, a 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 the card Money from the budget, on which the poor will be able to purchase food. Social cards already operating in the region or special bank cards “introduced for the implementation of the targeted assistance program with the participation of one of the banks of the Russian Federation” can be used for accruals.

In the event of an unstable market situation, hyperinflation or a shortage of certain necessary products in the country, a mechanism should be provided for receiving food aid in kind, when a citizen can receive a set of products directly on a card, Melnikov noted.

He said that the experts intend to propose new methodology identifying those in need.

Now social support is provided to certain categories of citizens: pensioners, veterans, large families, and so on. If you look at each category, they have citizens with different levels of per capita income. It would be fair to provide assistance from the positions living wage Melnikov says.

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

From the point of view of benchmarks, the amount transferred to a social or special bank card should increase income to the level of the subsistence minimum. We will strive for this, but it is worth proceeding from the real possibilities of the budget, - explains Melnikov.

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

Melnikov stressed that Optconsult's analytical materials, which are being prepared for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will be advisory in nature.

For now, these are just suggestions. Proposals on which our customer (Ministry of Industry and Trade) must express their opinion. The final decision is up to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other departments, - Melnikov specified.

Recall that the proposal to introduce grocery cards in Russia was contained in the report of the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to the 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 poor are entitled to receive a special bank card. The state regularly transfers subsidies to it, which can only be spent on food.

Now in some regions there are already food aid cards. They are issued, as a rule, to certain categories of the population, regardless of income. Such a situation, for example, in the Kirov region.

This pilot project, cards were 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, - reported the Ministry of Social Development of the Kirov region.

Sergey Rybalchenko, director general of the Institute for Scientific and Public Expertise, said that in the United States food cards are also issued depending on the income of citizens, and not their belonging to 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 the poor in the country, - says Rybalchenko.

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

Now it is assumed that only domestic products can be bought with cards. For 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 subsistence minimum is determined separately for the able-bodied population, for pensioners and for children. The amount is set by the regional authorities on a quarterly basis and varies greatly depending on the subject. For example, in Moscow the living wage is 14.3 thousand rubles (hereinafter - per capita), in the Yamalo-Nenets district - 14,241 rubles, in the Sakhalin region - 13,631 rubles, in the Tyumen region - 9605 rubles, in the Perm region - 9292 rubles. In general, in Russia for the first quarter of 2015, the living wage amounted to 9662 rubles.

The social function of the state is to help people who find themselves in a difficult financial situation. To do this, citizens in need are provided with subsidies and benefits, as well as cash payments and the issuance of essential items. The Moscow authorities tried to improve this mechanism and replaced the in-kind issuance of things and food with electronic certificates.

At the moment, social certificates are valid only in Moscow.

It is known that a significant part of the budget goes to the purchase of food. Assistance in acquiring them from the state turns out to be a serious material help for such families, allowing them to spend the saved money on other needs.

The program is implemented by regional social protection authorities and depends on the possibilities local budget. This may be the provision of food, the allocation of funds for their purchase, or the organization of free meals in educational, medical or social institutions.

However, practice shows the imperfection of such schemes. Provision of food does not always meet the needs of a particular family, and it can be difficult to verify the intended use of allocated funds. Therefore, for several years now, the possibility of transferring a certain amount to special cards with a limited possibility of their use has been discussed.

To date, such a program is fully operational only in Moscow. Its essence is that a fixed amount is transferred to the social cards of the residents of the capital every month. It is impossible to cash it out, since the balance of the card is calculated in points. They operate on the principle of gift cards. One point is equivalent to one Russian ruble. Thus, a person has the opportunity to determine his own diet, and not depend on the standard "food basket".

At the same time, misuse of allocated funds is excluded, since points can only be spent on products. However, the use of the card is not mandatory - if a person for some reason does not want to take advantage of this offer, he can still receive food in kind.

Who is issued a social certificate

At the moment, two conditions must be met in order to take advantage of the opportunity to receive food assistance:

1. Have social card Muscovite, to which funds will subsequently be transferred.
2. Meet the criteria for a low-income family.

In Moscow, families where the average income per person is less than the subsistence level or exceeds it by no more than 50% can count on receiving social security for food. It is issued not for a person, but for a family. Thus, each family is only entitled to one food certificate.

How to receive

To obtain a social certificate, it will be necessary to prepare a package of documents according to the above list.

An application for receiving targeted assistance is submitted to the social service center at the place of residence. The following documents must be submitted along with the application:

• applicant's passport;
• birth certificate of the child (children);
• information on income for 12 months: certificates of salary, receipt of pensions, scholarships, alimony and other types of income, as well as subsidies for housing and communal services (if any);
• if the parents are unemployed, it is necessary to present work books and certificates from the employment center about payments or their absence;
• documents certifying that the applicant has benefits: a pension certificate, a certificate of disability, a certificate that the family has many children, a certificate of loss of a breadwinner, etc.;
• the applicant's social card, to which the electronic application will subsequently be linked;
• SNILS of the applicant.

Within 2 weeks, employees of the social protection department will consider and, in case of a positive decision, send the applicant a notice of crediting a certain denomination to the social card, which can be spent on the purchase of products. No additional activation of the card is required.

How to use points

The card cannot be used to pay for the purchase of alcohol and tobacco products!

There are no restrictions on spending points within the face value. They can be spent at one time, or used to pay for multiple purchases. But they accept a social card for payment only in partner stores of the program.

To date, these are the stores of the X5 Retail Group chain: Pyaterochka, Karusel and Perekrestok, as well as the Dixy chain. Thus, certificate holders are not tied to a specific point of issue of products, since these networks belong to the category of convenience stores.

If you are a retiree, it will be good for you to know that the rumors about ration cards that give you a set of essential food items are a future reality. Who is eligible to receive support from the state, and under what conditions food certificates are issued - we will talk about this in more detail.

For people “from the 90s”, the very concept of a food card inspires horror - a kilogram of sugar, buckwheat, millet and a little butter - that's what we remember. However, today's product certificate is a completely different document and has a significantly expanded range.

The introduction of certificates for citizens with a minimum standard of living is the idea of ​​the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The assistance program involves the issuance of special food cards to low-income families and pensioners. It seems that the certificate will be a kind of analogue of a bank card, where funds are credited. But you can spend them only for certain purposes in certain stores. There is an opinion that not money will be credited to the cards, but their equivalent in special points.

What products can you buy:

• only from a Russian manufacturer;
• essential goods;
• non-long-term storage products: dairy, fish, meat, sour-milk, vegetables, bread.

That is, it is clearly not designed for imported delicacies, alcohol, cigarettes, but the list of the grocery set is still being discussed and will become known a little later. The social support program for citizens is also designed to support a Russian manufacturer and retailer. That is why the receipt of goods will be limited to certain outlets.

Issue price

Officials believe that the amount of 10,000 rubles. enough to get basic necessities. Moreover, the entire amount of finance is supposed to be divided into a year (12 months). Thus, monthly expenses will not exceed 833 rubles. Enough? Hardly. Initially, it was about 1400 rubles. monthly, but they decided to cut these crumbs.

Who can get a certificate

Citizens whose income for the last 3 months has not exceeded the minimum subsistence level are eligible for the certificate. As a rule, these are people who have benefits for the payment of housing and communal services, receive social subsidies, additional payments for children. If this is a family, then it is calculated total income divided by all members of the family. Incomes are compared with the regional limits of the subsistence minimum, and it sometimes differs from the federal one and varies depending on the territorial location of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Where the food certificate program is already running in 2018

The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to introduce the program back in 2014, but there was no money in the budget and the issue was raised in 2017. The program was discussed, approved, and in the summer of 2017 D. Manurov announced the launch of the assistance system in the second half of 2018.

Deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade V. Yevtukhov introduced amendments, saying that the necessary amount of funding is required, but there are no funds in the budget. And the program, having passed the approvals, has remained “on the shelf” so far. In 2018, it also failed to launch the assistance system, but Mr. Manturov assures that no one is going to give up and there is hope to launch certificates in 2019. It all depends on whether there are funds in the budget to help the poor in the Russian Federation. It remains to wait for the discussion of the draft budget in the State Duma, which will determine whether the costs for Russian citizens are included or not.