“There should be press!”: retail chains were offered to organize the sale of Russian newspapers

“People should learn the truth about what is happening in Russia from printed publications”

The Ministry of Industry and Trade held a meeting on a very pressing topic for all Russian print media – the distribution of their products in retail chains. In light of today’s realities, it is especially important and even necessary for Russians to have access to domestic newspapers and magazines. Representatives of retail chains were asked to establish a dialogue with Russian publishing houses and find an opportunity to return printed periodicals to the shelves.

For the first time, the need to raise this issue was expressed at the Press Ball on the occasion of Russian Press Day in January 2024 by the Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Russia, Vladimir Solovyov. He said that together with the chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists, Pavel Gusev, a letter was prepared and sent to Vladimir Putin about supporting the work of kiosks selling printed materials and returning newspapers and magazines to supermarket shelves.

At a meeting held at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, representatives of the ministry, the media industry and Russian retail chains (Perekrestok, Magnit, Pyaterochka, Lenta, Auchan, etc.) discussed this issue. Pavel Gusev said that in some retail chains there is a decrease in the number of periodicals on the shelves, and in some they have completely disappeared. “We believe that today point-of-sale printing is a social product that people cannot do without,” he emphasized. “There is an increase in sales of printed publications for certain items, which suggests that this assortment is important for people.” Russians, according to the editor-in-chief of MK, want “not only to wander around sites that are closed and become foreign agents, but people want to find out the truth about what is happening in Russia today.”

The Chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists asked representatives of retail chains to support the print media and treat contact with them with complete seriousness and responsibility, because at present there is “no support.” He also spoke out against the proposal of some retail chains to place newspapers on vertical iron racks, instead of allocating shelves for them – in the first case, copies would not be visible, and customers would not be able to pick them up and leaf through them (which is also very important).

State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov noted the following: “We know that all the work on selling printed products falls on the shoulders of distributors, this work is systematically organized, so all the excuses from our trade representatives are that printed products should not be in retail chains , are inappropriate.” In this regard, the Deputy Minister instructed representatives of retail chains to meet the media halfway and, within a month, establish contacts with them and work out the issue of selling Russian periodicals in their supermarkets.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29217 dated February 15, 2024

Newspaper headline:
There will be press on the shelves!