Retail, Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees Day in Tajikistan Date in the current year: June 2, 2024

The history of Retail, Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees Day can be traced to the Soviet era. It was originally established in 1966 and observed annually on the fourth Sunday of July. In 1980, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR moved the observance to the third Sunday of March.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some former Soviet republics canceled the holiday, while others split it into two separate professional observances: Retail Employees Day (celebrated on the fourth Saturday of July in Russia and on the third Sunday of July in Belarus and Ukraine) and Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees (celebrated on the third Sunday of March in Russia and Ukraine and on the fourth Sunday in March in Belarus).

Tajikistan is the only country that continued to celebrate Retail, Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees Day after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, the holiday was moved to another date, the first Sunday of June. It is on the list of official holidays celebrated in Tajikistan, which can be found in the law “On Holidays” adopted in 2011.

It is very hard to overestimate the importance of people working in the sectors of public utilities, consumer services, and retail. Public utility company employees maintain the infrastructure for water and gas supply networks, central heating and electrical networks, sewers and waste management. They also also responsible for maintaining lobbies, landings and elevators in apartment buildings, yards and sidewalks, streets and roads, public parks, street lighting, etc.

Without people working in the consumer services sector, we would have to deal with all types of repairs (clothes, shoes, household appliances, cars, etc.) on our own. In addition, the sector of consumer services includes tailor shops, dry cleaners, rentals, cleaning companies, and many other businesses that make people’s lives easier. And don’t even get us started on retail; it is simply impossible to imagine modern life without shops, supermarkets, and shopping malls.

The service sector, also known as the tertiary sector of the economy, accounts for a large portion of GDP and employment in all developed countries. Although Tajikistan has a developing, lower-middle income economy, the service sector accounts for about half if its GDP, so it is not surprising that Retail, Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees Day is one of official holidays in Tajikistan.

Like all professional holidays in Tajikistan, Retail, Consumer Services and Public Utility Company Employees Day is not a public holiday, but it is a non-working day for those who work Monday to Friday simply due to the fact that it always falls on a weekend. Employees who get a day off on Sundays usually accept congratulations on the nearest workday.