July 25 2003, 09:28 UNIAN

CM empowered local administrations to restrict profitability of bakers

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has granted regional administration the right to restrict profitability rate and trading mark-ups of bread and bakery products producers in case of their essential overcharging. According to the first Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Minister of Finance Mykola Azarov, such a decision has been made today at the sitting of government.

He said some producers in Ukraine were working with "impracticably high" profitability. "We found out that the grain which costs 300 hryvnias per tonne comes to consumers at a price of more than 3,000 hryvnias per tonne. Such norms of profitability are impossible", he said.

He also informed that the Cabinet of Ministers had charged the Anti-Monopoly Committee to prepare legislative basis for de-monopolisation of the grain market.