Formula for Success

How often do we, as consumers, hear the phrase: “We must support local producers!” – and how rarely do we see these products widely available. Support for local producers is talked about from high tribunes as a priority in regional and national economic development, but tell me, how many special government or regional programs can we recall? Besides the worn-out election slogan “Buy Ukrainian,” nothing else really comes to mind.

Of course, there is a point of view that today, in the global world of competition, the consumer is able to choose the highest quality product on the store shelf, regardless of where it was made. From the standpoint of basic consumption, this is true. But from the standpoint of strategic development, this is a terrible opinion that leads to collapse.

But what to do if local goods are practically deprived of the opportunity to even get on the shelves? Or are placed so that customers cannot find them? Moreover, local goods face fierce competition from multinational corporations that spend enormous money on advertising and product promotion, while at the regional level, production facilities don’t always even have an advertising manager position. If we conducted a survey right now about which local products you know, what would the result be?

There is no doubt – consumers need to be educated, they need to be told about the competitive advantages of local goods. And this needs to be done regularly, not for one or two years – but for decades. Until the thought firmly takes root in citizens’ minds that by preferring local goods, they are investing money not only in jobs at these enterprises but also in education, healthcare, and municipal services – in other words, through taxes paid by local producers, every resident of the region participates in territorial development.

The main thing we all need to understand is that there is no other way. If, of course, we want to be a country, a region that not only consumes but also produces goods. To produce means to be successful. This is the formula of modern economics.

Giant factories, where thousands of people work and whose products mainly go for export, stand apart in this serious conversation. It would seem, how can a story about their life, their achievements be useful? After all, huge pumps are not sold on supermarket shelves – they are supplied to nuclear power plants, gas pipelines, factories, etc. Allow me to disagree: the successful operation of such enterprises, high wages, labor standards and social protection should show everyone, especially young people, that there are great managers in the country capable of organizing high-tech production, there are specialists whose labor is paid very well even by Western standards, i.e., there is something to strive for here, something to study for. And for a decent life, you don’t have to go abroad or crowd around the budget trough hoping for a kickback – you can earn a living for your family with your own mind and hands. This is the positive information that society sometimes lacks so much, and we are grateful to the management of the largest Sumy enterprises for understanding the social importance of our project.

Understanding their modest role, in our opinion, is something various inspection organizations, particularly the tax inspectorate, greatly lack today. Having gotten carried away with the role of saviors of the Fatherland and the state budget, tax officials often overstep the bounds of common sense. Surprisingly, even the best taxpayers cannot escape their close attention today. Obviously, this cannot be state policy, because if it is state policy, then such a state is doomed to economic failure. How to fight this? Only publicly – through the press, public opinion. There is no other way.

Modesty of inspectors, state protectionism towards its own producers, consumer education – these are three big tasks we would like to start the conversation about the Sumy region’s economy with. Join us – we are open for discussion.

Yevhen Polozhiy