News From : DagangHalal.com (03 Dec 2008)
The Russian capital is planning the opening of Muslim-oriented chain stores to offer a wide array of Halal products to the country’s sizable Muslim minority. Under the plans, at least one Halal shop would be opened in every district in Moscow. According to Yeleferenko, the Halal shops will be located outside the confines of mosque complexes. It means non-believers too will be able to buy wonderful fresh and tasty products. Yeleferenko noted that the plan was initially proposed by the Russian Council of Muftis, which later sought the council’s help to put the ambitious plan into effect. The Russian Council of Muftis has developed a standard and checking procedure of Halal production, which is now followed by hundreds of companies. There are a sizeable number of Halal food stores in the federal state, mostly located in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan Republics in central Russia. Yeleferenko said the city council may approve a planning assistance for the project because the Halal shops are unlikely to have the bargaining power of larger supermarket chains. He believes that the Halal shops would help foster tolerance in Russia. The shops would provide greater opportunities for non-Muslims to learn about Islam and the Islamic culture, he added. There are some 23 million Muslims in the Russian Federation concentrated in the north of the Caucasus, representing roughly 15 percent of Russia’s 145 million populations. Islam is the country’s second-largest religion, behind the Russian Orthodoxy. Reference: IslamOnline.net & News Agencies Wednesday, September. 12, 2007http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1189064887969&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout