May 15, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region-based agricultural businesses seem to have no way of reaching national chain stores to get their produce sold in Yekaterinburg.

Pervouralsk-based Bitimsky Cooperative only managed to land a contract on the delivery of its dairy produce to supermarkets in Academic District, Yekaterinburg. The company explains that the current situation makes it difficult for them to promote its foods outside Pervouralsk.

‘So far, we have managed to sell our goods through kiosks in Academic District. The national chain stores require that we offer them bonuses and take back everything that hasn’t been sold. Pervouralsk retail traders are more flexible, since local customers are already loyal to our products,’ Bitimsky representatives explain.

In fact, in September 2014, Sverdlovsk Region authorities threatened to prosecute the national chain stores which refused to work with the local producers. The local government also coordinated a Buy Local campaign, but things don’t seem to have got any better since last fall.