The social function of the state is to help people in difficult financial situations. For this, citizens in need are provided with subsidies and benefits, as well as cash payments and the issuance of basic necessities. The Moscow authorities tried to improve this mechanism, and replaced the in-kind distribution 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 is spent on purchasing food. Assistance in acquiring them from the state is a serious material help for such families, allowing them to spend the money saved on other needs.

The program is implemented by regional social protection authorities and depends on the capacity of the local budget. This can 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. The provision of food does not always meet the needs of a particular family, and it can be difficult to verify the targeted spending of the allocated funds. Therefore, for several years now, the possibility of transferring a certain amount to special cards with a limited ability to use them 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 the allocated funds is excluded, since points can be spent only on products. However, the use of the card is not obligatory - if a person for some reason does not want to take advantage of this offer, he can still receive food in kind.

Who is the social certificate issued to?

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

1. Have a Muscovite social card, 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 benefits for food. It is issued not for a person, but for a family. Thus, each household is only entitled to one food certificate.

Procedure for receiving

To obtain a social certificate, you will need 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. Along with the application, you must submit the following documents:

• applicant's passport;
• birth certificate of a child (children);
• information on income for 12 months: certificates of salary, receipt of pensions, scholarships, alimony and other types of profit, 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 the 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, the employees of the social protection department will consider and, in case of a positive decision, send the applicant a notice of enrollment on a social card of a certain denomination, which can be spent on the purchase of products. No additional card activation is required.

How to use points

You cannot pay for the purchase of alcohol and tobacco products with a card!

There are no restrictions on the consumption of points within the nominal range. They can be spent at one time, or used to pay for multiple purchases. But the social card is accepted for payment only in the partner stores of the program.

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

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has begun the practical implementation of the idea of ​​introducing product 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 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 start developing a concept for targeted food aid. As the General Director of Optconsult Dmitry Melnikov told Izvestia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade intends to propose to 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 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 the card of funds from the budget, for which the poor will be able to purchase food. Social cards that are already operating in the region, or special bank cards "introduced for the implementation of a 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 situation on the market, hyperinflation or a shortage of certain necessary products in the country, a mechanism should be provided for receiving food assistance in kind, when a citizen can receive a set of products directly with a card, '' Melnikov noted.

He said that the experts intend to propose a new methodology for 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 include citizens with different levels of per capita money income. It would be fair to provide assistance from the point of view of a living wage, - says Melnikov.

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 guidelines, the amount transferred to a social or special bank card should increase income to the level of 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 aid from both the regional and federal budgets, giving the program a federal status.

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

So far, these are only suggestions. Proposals on which our customer (Ministry of Industry and Trade) must express its opinion. The final decision belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other departments, - Melnikov specified.

Recall that the proposal to introduce food 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 working. According to her, citizens who are listed 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.

Some regions already have food aid cards. They are issued, as a rule, to certain categories of the population, regardless of income. This is the situation, for example, in the Kirov region.

This is a pilot project, cards have been issued to families with many children in a number of districts of the region. In the future, the program is planned to be extended to the entire region, - said the Ministry of Social Development of the Kirov region.

Director General of the Institute of Scientific and Public Expertise Sergei Rybalchenko 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, this 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 send the program of targeted food assistance to help local producers.

Now it is assumed that only domestic products can be bought with the cards. For a number of categories, it would be possible to narrow the choice down to local producers in order to support them, - Rybalchenko noted.

According to Rosstat, in 2014, 11.2% of the population of Russia, or 16.1 million people, had incomes below the subsistence level. The subsistence minimum is determined separately for the working-age 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 Okrug - 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 subsistence minimum amounted to 9662 rubles.

The launch of the state program for food assistance to low-income segments of the population has been postponed to 2018.

The program assumes assistance to low-income citizens by introducing ration cards for a certain amount, which can only be spent on domestically produced products.

Seven most interesting facts about food ration cards in Russia in 2018 for the poor

1. The state program of food assistance to low-income segments of the population in the Russian Federation can be implemented no earlier than 2018.
2. The program is designed to ensure that the funds allocated to support low-income citizens should be spent on products of only domestic production.
3. In some regions of Russia, there is already experience in using ration cards.
4. Food ration cards can be electronic.
5. The projected cost of the program is currently estimated at about 250 billion rubles.
6. The program is rejected by the Ministry of Finance due to a shortage of funds in the budget for social projects.
7. When issuing food cards for low-income citizens, it will be necessary to prove your low material level with the help of certificates.

Hot news - video about the introduction of grocery cards in Russia in 2018

The history of the emergence of the project to help low-income citizens of Russia

The food aid program for the poor began to be developed back in 2009. The initiative belonged to domestic unions of producers of grain, milk, meat.

After the crisis, their incomes declined markedly and the problem of overproduction was brewing. In September 2015, a program was introduced to the Russian government to introduce food ration cards to low-income groups of the population.

Initially, it was assumed that this would be a choice: either material assistance, or ration cards, which could be used to get a certain set of products in the store. Later, the start of the program was postponed to 2017.

Now the dates have shifted to 2018. At every stage of the attempt to implement this program, the Ministry of Finance became the main obstacle.

How ration cards can be used in 2018

The program assumes in 2018 the issuance of electronic payment cards (or electronic payment certificates).

A certain amount will be charged on these grocery cards every month (at the moment, this is about 1400 rubles a month, which will be adjusted taking into account the region of residence, salary levels and prices in the region, the purchasing power of the population, the living wage).

These food cards can be used to pay for the poor in any grocery store for fresh domestically produced goods.

This money cannot be cashed or bought with it, for example, alcohol, cigarettes, and even long-term storage products such as canned food, cereals, pasta, etc.

See also:

Russia's Anti-Crisis Program for 2018: How We Will Get Out of the Crisis

This measure is supposed to diversify the diet with fresh products: chilled meat, fresh milk, fresh vegetables and fruits.

Foods not available on low-income ration cards

Objectives of the Food Program for the Poor:

1. Support for low-income Russians, large families.
2. Support for domestic producers.
3. Substitution of imported food products for Russian ones.
4. Improving the quality of food for low-income citizens of Russia.

It was assumed that this would not be burdensome for the country's budget. But precisely for economic reasons, or, more simply, due to the lack of funding opportunities for this project, its launch was repeatedly "frozen".

Application of grocery cards in the regions of the Russian Federation

Some Russian regions already have similar programs. This means targeted social assistance. In Moscow, there are social cards for Muscovites. In America, it has been a practice to issue food stamps to the poor for more than half a century.

Video story about food cards for the poor - a list of products that cannot be purchased with food cards

When will grocery cards be introduced in Russia?

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation today cannot predict the exact timing of the start of the food program. But unambiguously, this will not happen earlier than 2018, perhaps, and this date will be adjusted towards a shift to a later date.

The food aid program for certain categories of citizens will start working in Russia from 2018

The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance support the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to introduce special cards in the country, to which points or bonuses will be transferred. For them, citizens, whose income level is below the subsistence level, will be able to receive a number of food products, except for alcohol and tobacco.

Not an allowance for poverty, but help

Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said that it is not yet clear how the program will be financed, but this issue is now being decided by the Ministry of Finance. “The Ministry of Industry and Trade has an idea to share the financial burden with the business - manufacturers of products,” Manturov said.

According to him, about 300 billion rubles will be allocated for the project. The ration cards will be used to purchase meat, fish and fresh vegetables. However, it will not work out especially: the monthly amount transferred to the food card will be about one and a half thousand rubles. With this money it will be possible to buy 2 kilograms of meat, 2 kilograms of fish and 30 kilograms of potatoes.

As emphasized in the Government, cards are one of the tools to support consumer demand within the framework of the program developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It will help Russian production to develop, and the poor to establish a healthy diet.

It is too early to talk about specific amounts on the card. These and other details are being finalized. According to Manturov, the money transferred to the card cannot be cashed or saved - if they are not used to buy food within a month, they will “burn out”.

It is planned to use Mir cards to accrue the amounts, and those who have received the right to state aid will be able to use an existing card or write an application to the bank to issue a new one. On the same card, you can send salaries, benefits, scholarships. The cards can be used in all stores that are ready to work in the new system. There is no need to create a separate trading network. According to the idea of ​​the Ministry of Industry and Trade, points can also be sold at markets and fairs. The possibility of calculating in canteens and cafes will be considered in the future.

According to Rosstat, the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence level in Russia is about 15-16 million people. The latest poll by VTsIOM showed that 78 percent of respondents supported the introduction of cards.

“We have always supported a system of additional assistance to the needy categories of Russians, and the introduction of food ration cards is no exception. Nobody considers them to be an allowance for poverty, "Valery Ryazansky, head of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, told Parlamentskaya Gazeta. He suggested that many Russians associate the rationing system with a similar failed experiment of the Gorbachev period, and therefore many are now worried. “But nowadays a completely different model is proposed, it is verified. Funds will be sought in the budget gradually. And so far we are talking about a pilot project, to which, I hope, NGOs will also join. After all, it is possible to distribute by cards not only perishable foodstuffs, but also, for example, household services, ”the senator noted.

Becoming a beneficiary is also not easy

So, citizens with a monthly income that does not exceed the subsistence level will be able to get a food card. Its value in each region of the country is different.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has already clarified that they are going to issue food ration cards only to those citizens who have found themselves below the poverty line by the will of external circumstances and can prove it. The state will definitely not support parasites who are able to work. Those who hide the real amount of income and pretending to be poor should also not count on help.

How can a citizen know if he can take part in the ration card program? To do this, he needs to do some simple calculations.

Add up all the income his family has received in the past three months. Benefits, subsidies, scholarships also need to be considered. Divide the resulting amount by 3 - display the arithmetic mean and divide the result by the number of family members, including children and retirees. If the total value is below the subsistence level, you can safely apply for a food ration card.

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 carried out by territorial bodies of social security. To apply for a benefit, you will need to bring the necessary documents and go through an interview. The list of citizens eligible for the benefit will be reviewed every six months.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade promises to present the exact list of available domestic products soon. It is known that it will include meat and fish, bread, eggs and milk, salt, sugar, spices, vegetables, fruits, dried fruits. In addition, food for pets, personal hygiene products, seeds and seedlings were also classified as social products. The exemption will not apply to alcohol and cigarettes.

Cardholders will also not be able to spend concessional funds on surplus food - for example, candy. A poor citizen who wants to please his child with sweets will have to spend his own money on it. The most controversial position so far is drugs - the Ministry of Industry and Trade has not decided whether it is worth adding them to the list of social products.

Pavel Sigal, the first vice-president of Opora Rossii, doubts that the program of food assistance to the poor will be able to improve the situation with poverty in the country. He noted that it is difficult to talk about the effectiveness of such a program today, since its implementation is associated with great logistical difficulties.

“To implement the program of food assistance to the poor, it is necessary to resolve not only the issues with its financing, but also to work out in detail the mechanism of operation of the cards, starting from the accrual of points on them and ending with their use in retail outlets,” says Boris Frumkin.

And Aleksandr Khamidullin, a member of the Public Chamber's Commission on the Agro-Industrial Complex and Development of Rural Areas, told Parlamentskaya Gazeta that it would be good to start the card program earlier than 2018. “I understand that all finances need to be calculated, but the need to support poor Russians has been discussed for a long time. In addition, it should be understood that 10-20 percent of this targeted aid will go for other purposes, ”the expert said.

In his opinion, all problems should go away gradually with the practice of using food cards. “The first step has already been taken, especially since our country is not the author of this system. In the United States, for example, since 1961, a food ration system has been in effect for certain categories of people, ”Khamidullin said.

By the way, food certificates have also been introduced in modern Russia, at the regional level. For example, in 2013, the Kirov region issued three thousand ration cards for large families.

How are they

Indeed, in America, citizens have been paying with food stamps for 50 years. Financial assistance from the state for the purchase of food goes to special plastic cards - an average of $ 126. In 2016, 44 million people received such assistance from the state. A single American with a net income below $ 990 can apply for the program.

In the UK, the coupon system was introduced after World War II 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 voucher system on the Island of Freedom is gradually disappearing. Interestingly, cigarettes were excluded from the list of “concessional” goods in Cuba only in 2016.

The expected improvement in the quality of life is of interest to many Russians - those who, by the will of insurmountable life circumstances, found themselves below the poverty line. Poor people belong to the unprotected category of the population, and according to official sources, about 15% of them (≈ 22 million people). These citizens have an income that does not reach the subsistence level for a particular region, republic, or region.

Basic concepts of the assistance program

Starting in 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia began to plan the implementation of its food program “Strategy for the Development of Trade in the Russian Federation for 2014-2016. and the period until 2020 ”. The document provided for the issuance and merchandise of the first grocery cards for the poor in 2019 in a test mode. The full implementation of aid will begin in 2019.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry sets in the document specific tasks that will be solved as a result of the implementation of the planned measures. These include:

• support for Russian product manufacturers;
• improving the quality of food consumption;
• , the unemployed, single mothers and other poor Russians.

The implementation of the innovation will help support the Russian economy due to the fact that budget funds will be spent only on the purchase of food products from a Russian manufacturer. The implementation of the project will begin after electronic food cards for the poor or certificates for foodstuffs appear in the everyday life of Russian citizens.

What needs to be done for low-income citizens to receive government assistance

To confirm the fact of financial difficulties, citizens need to collect the evidence base for the calculation. For justification, the applicant must provide documents confirming income - their own and family members - for the last three months. These should include pensions, scholarships, royalties, etc.

It is important to take into account that real assistance will be provided only to those citizens who can prove that they are not pretending to be poor, but that they are. It is useless to ask for help unregistered entrepreneurs, freelancers, owners of subsidiary plots. Social security authorities will not satisfy the statement of parasites who can, but do not want to work.

The calculation algorithm contains the following actions:

• the addition of income received in the last three months by all family members;
• dividing the summed total family income by 3 to determine its average monthly value;
• dividing the resulting value by the number of family members (including children);
• the calculated value in rubles is compared with the amount sufficient to meet human needs for food, medicines, non-food products, services - the subsistence minimum.

In 2019, the subsistence minimum for one Russian is 9909 rubles, while for pensioners an amount of 8178 rubles is planned, for a child - 9756 rubles, the adult working population should be content with a sum of 10701 rubles.

Having made such calculations, you can be sure whether you personally or your family are entitled to state food support in the form of food.

Only one project participant is supposed to receive help in the form of products in the amount of about 10 thousand rubles a year. A certain number of points (850-1200 depending on the place of residence) will be credited to the plastic card monthly, each of which corresponds to 1 ruble. Funds not used by the end of a specific month will be burned out.

The food set includes:

• flour and bread products;
• meat and meat products;
• milk and products from it;
• fish and fish products;
• fruits (dry and fresh) and vegetables;
• eggs, vegetable oil, as well as seasonings, spices, sugar.

Medicines, planting material for summer residents, detergents, food for pets are subject to inclusion in this list. Now this issue is being resolved at the ministerial level. To get state support for the poor, you must submit an application and the corresponding package of documents to the competent authorities.

Where to go to get a low-income food card

The mechanism for the implementation of the program provides for the involvement of social protection authorities in the issuance of food coupons. Consequently, low-income citizens must submit an application to the local authority with the attachment of certificates confirming their financial difficulties. Additionally, the citizen will undergo an interview with an employee of the social protection authority.

Having received electronic food cards for the poor, Russians will be able to pay with it for food, just like using a regular bank card for payments. Unlike the latter, money is not withdrawn from them and is not transferred to another account, but it will be possible for their holders to replenish them. The peculiarity of your own replenishment is that 40% of the amount will be credited as a bonus.

The implementation of the project will increase each budgetary ruble 3-4 times due to its turnover. This fact confirms the real benefits of the event both for retailers and for the domestic food industry and the agro-industrial sector. In addition, the volume of production will increase, which will ensure import substitution. With such measures, the state guarantees a constant demand for food products that will become available to the unprotected segments of the population.

02.11.2019