School meals in St. Petersburg again came under a hail of criticism

Sergey Ivanov

A resonant video was published by St. Petersburg social activist Pavel Boychenko, who runs the School Revizorro channel, where he talks about school meals, including criticizing this area. In the video, he interviews a man who allegedly worked for the Volna KSP, which serves schools in the Nevsky district of the northern capital. In particular, Mikhail (the last name is not given, but the man's face is shown) claims that he worked in the canteen of school No. 20.

According to the man, he was hired without a health book, although he focused on the fact that he did not have one and needed help with registration.

“They didn’t ask me for a sanction book, but immediately slipped a bunch of papers to sign. That is, I immediately agree, without reading, with all the conditions on non-disclosure, safety precautions and other things”, - he said.

He also said that he did not see the director or the doctor checking the food for the children. And they allegedly knew about the checks in the dining room in advance and prepared.

“The Rospotrebnadzor checks at the school are known for a couple of weeks, of course, everything is torn to it, general cleaning is done,” the man said.

In addition, he reported on low wages and the practice of voluntary-compulsory leave during the holidays.

“The salary of a kitchen worker at KSP Volna is, on average, 26,000 rubles. You yourself understand that now the average salary in St. Petersburg is much higher than this bar, and no one lives on such a salary, ”he added.

Another group of claims is to the quality of the finished food. According to the man, pastries can be put on shelves under the tables, and half-eaten cheese or ham from sandwiches can be put into a new dish.

“If I were a parent, it would be scary for me to feed my child with such food”, - he said.

The video was published on November 26 and went around the city public.

Novye Izvestia tried to get a comment from the management of Volna KSP about the published interview with the ex-employee. The director of the enterprise, Nailya Yakhina, did not give a detailed explanation, saying that everything voiced did not correspond to reality.

- Do you believe in it? she asked the correspondent of "NI"

- As a parent of a student, rather yes...

- It's a pity that young guys are doing this, we all walk under God.

According to the director, the publication may be related to the upcoming bidding for the provision of school meals.

- Will you go to court, demand refutation?

"I don't need excuses", - said the director, and ended the conversation.

By the way, in social networks, the interview was met ambiguously: there are comments in support of the author, but there are also people who questioned his words, they say, there is no crime in the published photos.

"How long has he worked? Two months? And I would like to hear an interview with someone who has worked in the school cafeteria for 20 years. According to the photo / video, there seems to be no crime. Are the counters dirty? So isn't he, like a kitchen worker, supposed to wash them? Or was he not allowed?”, - wrote one of the townspeople.

According to the SPARK database, Nailya Yakhina has been in charge of Volna since 2006. The enterprise organizes catering in dozens of schools in the Nevsky district. In 2021, the plant, operating in the form of a joint-stock company, but owned by the city, received contracts for more than a billion rubles. KSP will remain the provider of school meals until the end of 2023.

The topic of school meals in St. Petersburg is quite painful. Parents regularly complain about poor quality or tasteless food. Periodically there are scandals with poisoning. So, in April of this year, it became known about the outbreak of norovirus in school No. 26, about 20 children from primary classes fell ill, in addition, the virus was detected in four employees of the Volna PSC.

The child of a Novye Izvestia correspondent witnessed a similar scandal last year. It was reported about the mass poisoning of about 40 children in one of the gymnasiums of the Vasileostrovsky district. But the check of Rospotrebnadzor stated that only three children came down with rotavirus and the dining room had nothing to do with it. However, the parents had questions about the quality of food, and after this incident, many refused the services of the school canteen, the children eat sandwiches brought from home during breaks.