Saliut market cover - the sweat and tears of Vietnamese people in Russia

"Op" is the abbreviation of "obseriche" for "obseriche", the dormitory for workers and students of abandoned agencies and factories, which Vietnamese people who came to Russia under the labor cooperation policy from the 1980s and before. They rented these places not only to eat and live, but also to do wholesale and collect goods from the port and other sources. The Saliut 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ops in the Ben Thanh commercial center in Moscow are places that have witnessed many ups and downs, joys and sorrows of a generation of Vietnamese people.

Saliut 1 was established around 1992. Saliut 2 was originally a dormitory for international students of the Railway Transport University, and was rented by Vietnamese people in late 1993 and early 1994 to expand the area because Saliut 1 was too cramped. When Saliut 2 became overloaded due to the increasing number of people, Saliut 3 and 4 were established, just one kilometer away. Saliut 5 was established last.

The goods that Vietnamese people sell to Russian people at these 5 markets are mainly imported clothes from other markets such as the new Dom 5, the new Zil, the Hammer and Sickle, Nago, Luznhichsky Stadium market... In addition, there are a few owners who import goods by container from Poland and Türkiye to sell.

Vietnamese people in Russia have a funny saying: "Wherever there are 3 Vietnamese people with baskets in hand, there is a market!". During this period, the Soviet Union was under a socialist regime, goods were subsidized by the ration card system. Meanwhile, Vietnamese people traded all kinds of goods from wine bottles, lipsticks, bamboo blinds to jeans, windbreakers, T-shirts, sneakers, Nato jackets, electronic watches, gold, US dollars... everything from the best to the worst.

They sell wholesale in rooms of about 16, 20 square meters. Russians come to buy goods for their own use and also to sell wholesale in their small market. The lines of people and goods are always crowded, cars of all kinds, huge, long Tiar trucks carrying containers of goods into the city. People from far away come to buy wholesale goods in droves.

When post-Soviet Russia entered the period of reform in the 1990s, life for the local people was extremely difficult. Goods were scarce, unemployment was high, banks went bankrupt, factories went bankrupt, many families had to sell their belongings to survive. Prostitution, robbery, and even murder became uncontrollable, and mafia gangs sprung up like mushrooms after the rain. Political instability, economic decline, and serious corruption and bribery caused deep divisions in Russian society. In addition, the war with the Chechens cost Russia a lot of human and material resources.

In that situation, the Vietnamese people, with their own hands and minds, became a large and direct source of goods for Russian consumers. Apart from a few students and postgraduates studying at universities, the majority of Vietnamese people came to Russia under the labor cooperation policy between the two countries and did not return. Some even returned home but encountered difficulties and struggled to return to Russia.

At that time, only Vietnamese people were wholesalers, while Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Africans... had not participated. Therefore, many Vietnamese wholesalers began to get rich quickly. Many people saved money to buy land and real estate in Vietnam and Russia, deposited it in banks, bought cars, houses, and valuables. They sent their children to study abroad and settle down in Russia. The number of Vietnamese people going to Russia to do business increased rapidly.

Saliut 1 and 2 panels worked effectively, Vietnamese people flocked to live in these two places, up to several thousand residents. Most of the rooms used the attic for sleeping, the lower floor was used as a place to sell goods. The price to buy back the rooms to sell goods could reach hundreds of thousands of US dollars, cIt is also because Vietnamese people buy and sell to each other.

The leather jacket sellers are the richest among the merchants. The entire third floor of Saliut 2 is owned by leather jacket sellers. The money to buy the rooms, the capital to import the goods, the rent to pay the management board, the living expenses of the family and children… all depend on the wholesale goods.

The Vietnamese community making a living here is also very diverse, from workers, tourists, to students, researchers, civil servants, officials, musicians, journalists, painters, singers, doctors, and pharmacists.They do all kinds of jobs, from participating in the board of directors, opening a restaurant, to selling goods, opening a company, to carrying goods, cleaning, but selling is still the main thing.

Not only do they wholesale fabrics, clothes, shoes, hats, handbags or groceries, they also open restaurants. There was a time when the entire 5th floor of Saliut 2, which included dozens of rooms, was a restaurant. Every house had signs of all colors or simply black letters on a white background scribbled vaguely in front of the room door: Rice, pho, vermicelli, sausage, spring rolls, blood pudding, pig's intestines, duck eggs... In addition to the reluctant chefs, there were also many professional restaurants that hired chefs from Vietnam. The whole restaurant was filled with the smell of oil, braised, fried, grilled, shrimp paste, and typical Vietnamese-style sticky rice.

In particular, fresh goods such as meat, grouper, vegetables, cakes, flowers, vermicelli, bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, etc. are brought from Vietnam, making people feel very close to their homeland even though they are far away. Other services such as medical care, hair cutting, sewing, photography, paperwork, selling books, newspapers, music CDs, videos, karaoke, etc. are also bustling. If Saliut 1 is rich in one thing, Saliut 2 is rich in many other things.Oh, because there are 4 times more rooms and of course 4 times more people.

The shops usually operate until midnight, but at 4 or 5 in the morning they are already bustling because they have to open early to serve people from distant cities or even from Moscow and the suburbs who come to get goods. An apartment complex that used to be a place for families to live and work suddenly becomes a bustling market.

However, every time the loudspeaker from the management board warns that the police or OMON (special task force), the inter-agency committee or the quarantine team, fire prevention and fighting, immigration, household registration, and tax departments are coming to inspect, the whole area immediately becomes chaotic! The sound of doors closing, poles being swung around, hands waving goods around, feet running, breathing heavily, eyes looking around, people talking loudly, losing their voices, losing their composure, making the whole area chaotic. Some people hold their breath in the room, others panic and run out into the street for fear of having their identity papers, goods, and taxes checked. There have been many times when the inspection force has been too strong, causing great losses to the shop owners.

Not only focusing on business, but also organizing accommodation for people and the management boardBen Thanh Trade Center is also very interested in the daily life of Vietnamese people in the mall. People can enjoy free music performances right at the mall with famous artists invited from overseas or domestic cultural and artistic groups.Ben Thanh Trade Center also established its own art troupe with many "homegrown" singers to serve people during the spring, New Year, and holidays.The Vietnamese Literature and Arts Association in Russia organizes poetry nights.

In addition, there are also table tennis, football, and volleyball clubs established and competing with other clubs or other agencies and universities with Vietnamese people. There are times when the home team is organized to compete in Vietnam or to go to Eastern European countries to have friendly matches with friends.

Saliut 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 markets were the most important suppliers of goods for all of Russia from 1992 to 2007.Thanks to these covers, tens of thousands of Vietnamese people, even Russians, have stable jobs.such as porter, security guard, board member, lawyer.The market model has been multiplied not only within the Russian Federation but also spread to Europe, where the Vietnamese community lives and does business.

In the period after 2000, Russia's politics became stable, the economy flourished when world oil prices increased, the ruble became valuable compared to the US dollar. The opening of trade with the West also strongly affected Russia's market economy, thereby causing the demand for goods to begin to saturate. High-end supermarkets invested in Russia by Russians and Westerners poured into Russia. The market with popular, modest goods had to retreat to the background to make way for supermarkets.

In 2007, the Moscow authorities decided to clear a series of sidings at 19 locations.In the whole city, all Vietnamese shops had to close. Among the Vietnamese residents, some returned to their homeland, some went to distant cities to do business, some dispersed to the emerging Vom market. However, by 2009, this market had also closed permanently, giving way to a new market.

Today, those who used to live in Saliut 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 market areas still often recall old memories with nostalgia.and occasionally spend some free time returning to the place that once sheltered and attached them, where they shed sweat, tears, and even blood.Most of the residents of the pods remained in Russia and their children were born and raised here and followed in their parents' footsteps to study and work.