Malls ask authorities to drop 'whip' after COVID checks

The owners of shopping centers asked the authorities to "return to a constructive field" in terms of monitoring checks on compliance with anti-coronavirus measures. This is stated in a letter from the Russian Council of Shopping Centers (RSTC), sent to the HEAD of the Moscow department of Rospotrebnadzor and the chief sanitary DOCTOR of Moscow, Elena Andreeva (RBC has it).

The RSTC includes owners and managers of shopping centers, including Tashir (a network of Rio shopping centers), A.N.D. (shopping centers "Kaluzhsky", "Smolensky passage"), Ingka Centers (chains "Mega" and IKEA).

The letter says that over the past weekend, 34 large shopping centers in Moscow were accused of violating anti-coronavirus measures, some of them are facing suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

However, RSTC believes that the closure of shopping centers "has no significant justification." “Shopping centers are actually clean zones, where statistically the lowest percentage of infection. Protective equipment is distributed free of charge here, all sanitary and hygienic standards are observed,” said Dmitry Moskalenko, President of RSTC.

At the same time, it is not clear why Rospotrebnadzor “prefers not to talk” about issues of compliance with sanitary measures at urban infrastructure facilities, he continued. For example, at train stations and in the subway, masks can only be purchased for money, and there are many more people wearing them per day than in shopping centers, he noted.