Bazaar merchants dwindling trade to be hurt by further increases in fees

The turnover of Polish bazaars is decreasing and the planned increase of bazaar fees may worsen the situation of Polish merchants. The turnover of the six biggest bazaars in Poland decreased by 26% in 1999 amounting to zl. 1.8 billion. Next year the maximum day fee for merchants will increase by zl. 1.78 to zl. 4.80. The new proposal will also introduce fees which cannot exceed zl. 600 on temporary bazaars. In Warsaw the biggest revenues come from the largest European bazaar at the Stadion X-lecia (Russian market), which will pay zl. 9.5 million to gmina Praga Poludnie. In comparison other bazaars in Siedlce will pay zl. 670,000 to the budget of that region. "Another increase of bazaar fees will for sure not be warmly welcomed. Every introduced change is poorly received by traders," said an anonymous spokesperson of one of the companies managing bazaars. Some say that due to the planned increase of fees the real income to the government may drop rapidly. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1, 8) M.M.