A buyer chooses cheese in Perekrestok supermarket of Moscow.
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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Prices to Surge in Russia in Early May
Very soon, the Russians are likely to face the surge in prices for socially vital food and this surge will mostly hit the poor. The prices may accelerate starting from May 1, on expiration of the price moratorium imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.
Prolonging the agreements with manufacturers and retailers about fixed prices for socially vital food doesn’t appear expedient, said Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach, RBC Daily reported. That anti-inflation method hasn’t justified the hopes, the official explained.
The moratorium won’t be extended, according to the analysts. The biggest chains, including WBD, Unimilk, Õ5 Retail Group, Bunge and others that sealed the agreement in late October and extended it till May 1, 2008 are no longer willing to work on the verge of efficiency.
Of company’s product line, the price-freezing agreement covered only Oleina sunflower oil, said Kirill Bolmatov, who is the corporate director at Bunge. But the sales of Oleina accounted for roughly a third of the revenues. “Nowadays, the price for our bottled oil is below the price for unbottled and unrefined oil – 48 rubles a liter vs. 53 rubles a liter, Bolmatov complained.
Urged by the RF Agriculture Ministry, players on Russia’s food market entered into the framework agreement on freezing the prices for bread, milk, kefir, oil and eggs. The chain stores agreed to be within the trading margin of 10 percent.
www.kommersant.com
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