On January 9, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. More than 1.5 thousand fairs were held in December in the Vitebsk region, the trade and services department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. Exhibitions-sales, expanded sales and clearance sales of goods at reduced prices were held in the regional center, large cities and district centers of the region. In total, over 300 fairs for the sale of non-food products and over 1.3 thousand for food products were held. Also in December, more than 150 promotional events were organized with the presentation of gifts, souvenirs, and advertising games with prize draws, and about 300 exhibitions-sales of culinary, flour, confectionery and bakery products. About 200 Christmas and New Year's fairs took place in cities and districts, offering residents of the region a wide range of food and non-food products. The turnover of the fairs amounted to Br5.2 billion. In anticipation of the holidays, trade enterprises in the region ensured sufficient accumulation of food stocks, including champagne, confectionery, gift sets, as well as New Year's goods. For example, the range of toys and Christmas tree decorations includes over 1 thousand items, about 50 – carnival costumes, and over 100 types of artificial Christmas trees and pines. At the same time, about 40 thousand live New Year trees were purchased by residents of the region at Christmas tree markets for over Br1 billion. Many enterprises worked with flexible discount systems and reduced trade markups in December. For example, the Lenta OJSC store reduced ex-factory prices by up to 75% for certain types of goods. In the retail outlets of Parfum Trade LLC, discounts were provided with a 15% reduction in trade markups on the entire range of products sold. Promotions aimed at low-income citizens were also held. -0-

BELTA