January 30 2004, 11:17

Russian government takes measures to stabilise bread prices

Russian government intends to solve the issue of the bread price increase by way of state commodity interventions, welfare measures and the mechanism of export duties, AgroFact news agency has written. Since mid-January the government already established an export duty for wheat, rye and wheat/rye mixture in the amount of 0.025 euro per kilo.

According to the Vice-Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance Aleksey Kudrin, this decision was caused by a considerable growth of prices for bread and bakery products in the past year. The price growth over the 11 months reached 24 percent.

Thanks to the duty, grain export from the country will be limited, and this will allow stabilising prices for grain and bakery products in domestic market. Besides, the government in the near future intends to assume a series of additional measures in relation to the upcoming seasonal growth of demand for fuel during the spring fieldwork campaign, which may entail another increase of prices for the end product, another Deputy Prime Minister - Viktor Khristenko - has said. In this respect, Khristenko does not exclude a revision of export duties for oil products.

Yet another governmental official - Aleksey Gordeyev - sees solution to the problem in restricting the trading mark-up for bread on the level of 10 percent. Now the mark-up in some regions reaches 50 percent, Gordeyev said.

As regards establishment of some special prices for foodstuffs for provision of stability of foodstuff market - such measures are not enlisted within the plans of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers, informed the news agency.