15:53 1 June 2020
‘Vegetable+’: ruling party seeks to create state-owned grocery chain
Poland’s Ministry of State Assets plans to create a state-run chain of grocery stores. “We would be present from field to table,” Deputy Minister Artur Soboń said in an interview with money.pl.
Soboń presented some plans of the ministry. Among them was also the idea of creating a state-managed chain of grocery stores, which could mean major changes in the market. Cooperation with the existing network is at stake. He revealed his plans in response to the question of whether Polski Holding Spożywczy should deal not only with the production but also with the sale of products.
“We would be present from field to table. A state-controlled chain of stores would certainly complement what we are working on, i.e. the presence of the state on several markets in the processing of agri-food products,” he said.
However, critics took to Twitter, a social-networking site, to express their discontent and worry. They wondered what the real reason is behind this move which has been called “Vegetable Plus” similar to the slew of social benefits the ruling party has been doling out since it came to power in 2015 as part of its “pork-barrel” politics. Many compared the governing right-wing nationalist and populist Law and Justice (PiS) party with the communists who controlled nearly all walks of Polish life before 1989.
