There are administrative difficulties in stopping rise in Russian flour prices - Fyodorov
MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - There are administrative difficulties with stopping the rise in prices for flour and other grain products, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov told journalists at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues in Moscow on Thursday.
"It's necessary to stop the growth in grain prices and have reserves for domestic consumption," he said.
Referring to data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), Fyodorov said that flour prices have grown 19% since the beginning of the year, while grain prices have soared by around 70%.
"Let's look for the tools together on how to stop the rise in grain prices," he told State Duma deputies.
At the same time, Fyodorov said that the profitability of grain this year is very high due to increased prices in a number of regions. There are regions where grain is sold at between 10,000 and 13,000 rubles per tonne with cost of sales totaling 3,500-4,000 rubles per tonne.
Nikolai Pankov, chairman of the State Duma agrarian affairs committee, said it was necessary to more actively use the legal framework that exists for regulating prices on socially significant food items.
He added that according to the law on trade, if prices for such products increase over the course of 90 days, then the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) must interfere in the process. "This concerns not only buckwheat, but also fish, vegetables and other food items that are part of the list of socially significant [products]," Pankov said.
