The system of trade discounts has existed for over a century. One of them is locally known as “secondhand” and has been a plentiful source of clothing and other items for Ukrainians for the past seven years. Secondhand buses carry our passengers, while landfills await the flood of foreign household appliances imported en masse by our businessmen. It is easy to understand Europe, which finds it convenient to get rid of everything that it would otherwise have to recycle at a high cost. So it is lavishing all this refuse, in particular worn clothing and footwear, on us. Secondhand clothing is omnipresent: in underpasses, at markets, and even in specialized shops. It is sold on foldaway beds or right on the ground. It comes in the widest possible variety — from underpants to overcoats — all at the most affordable prices. For example, at secondhand bazaars in Kyiv leather jackets cost between sixty-five and eighty hryvnias, fur jackets sixty, and natural furs eighty hryvnias. Raglans sell for between three and ten hryvnias, sweaters for five to seven, heavy shirts for six to fifteen, and jeans for five to fifteen hryvnias. Hats and scarves sell for the token price of two hryvnias apiece. Moreover, discounts are available on bulk purchases. Maybe some people would like to shop for high-quality clothing, but few can afford to do so with local pensions and wages.
According to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, over 56,000 tons of used clothing and footwear were imported into Ukraine in 2002. Secondhand imports increased by 5% last year, reaching 59,000 tons. Over 25% of secondhand clothing was imported as humanitarian aid. Overall, Ukraine imported 500 million pieces of secondhand clothing, or ten items per capita.
Many countries run factories that process used clothing. Holland, for example, has seven such factories, which export clothing to fifty-five countries. They buy clothing and textiles from the population and sort it. Seventy percent of textiles are recycled into high-quality printers’ paperboards, soft toilet paper, stuffing for furniture, or soundproofing material for cars. The remaining 30% of clothing goes for export. Wearing secondhand clothing is even becoming fashionable in the West. Westerners believe that, unlike a new clothing item, used clothing has its own history, real or invented. For example, clothing worn by celebrities is all the rage in Los Angeles. But in Ukraine this type of clothing is of a different quality, and people buy it for lack of money and not because it was worn by some celebrity.
Secondhand clothing seems to be a very lucrative business in the Ukrainian market. Its average customs value is half a dollar per item. Experts say that dealers sell worn clothes in Ukraine at fifty times their price in the West. European countries banned the import of worn clothing a long time ago. Poland did so two years ago. According to Industrial Policy Department deputy chief Volodymyr Kuznetsov, secondhand clothing is a powder keg for the struggling textile industry in Ukraine. Ukraine’s economy nets ten billion USD less each year because of the omnipresent secondhand clothing. This results in fewer jobs for Ukrainians, says first deputy minister for industrial policy Mykola Ivashchenko. He thinks better controls over used clothing would create more breathing space for the agroindustrial complex, which could produce more flax, leather, and wool. This would in turn boost the chemicals industry, which produces fibers and colors. Machine building would receive additional possibilities to manufacture equipment. All of this would create conditions for the revival of the domestic industry in particular and the economy in general. Mr. Ivashchenko believes that this would help raise pensions, wages, and other social disbursements. But few people understand or want to understand this simple arithmetic. Thus, it is not abstract forces but specific individuals that are turning Ukraine into a receptacle for foreign waste and a fertile soil for contraband, says Ivashchenko. He therefore proposes a clear-cut solution: either secondhand items in the form of humanitarian aid or a complete ban on them.
Should parliament pass a bill on used clothing import duty at one or two euros per kilogram, Ukraine’s budget would receive no less than 100 million hryvnias per year at an annual volume of imports of 20,000-27,000 tons, according to estimates by experts of the Reforms Institute. Higher import duties and more stringent controls over shipments would result in higher prices for used clothing in the Ukrainian market and provide the necessary shot in the arm for Ukraine’s light industry.
Considering that the commission trade in Ukraine was ruined long ago, the ministry has proposed creating a civilized trade in worn clothing. Under such conditions, Ukrainians would be able to bring their old clothes to commission stores, as in the past. Incidentally, Western companies that buy and resell used clothing are subject to licensing and stringent state controls. Meanwhile, Ukraine is slowly drowning in so-called humanitarian aid. Ever since Poland stemmed the tide of second-rate goods, their imports into Ukraine have become more extensive and successful. Evidence of this is the following slogan seen in one store: “Our store provides an opportunity to experience freedom of choice to those whose life is planned from payday to payday.”
