Putin: Government not to allow gasoline prices to rise too high

GUBKIN, Belgorod Region, Jul 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian government will not allow producers and sellers of gasoline to set up excessive prices, but will not artificially cut them as it will hurt the economy, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

“We should not in any way allow producers, sellers and mediators to inflate prices, and it is obvious that these prices should be economically grounded…But it is also unreasonable to cut them artificially as it is bad for the economy in general in the end,” he said.

He said that the rise of Russian gasoline prices while oil prices are falling is connected to many factors, including external circumstances. “If we have a free market, we are unable to hold our prices so that they differ from those in neighboring countries, or we will have to create a new Iron Curtain,” he said.

Gasoline prices in Russia are lower than in many states, prompting exports. “This is why, if we don’t want everything to be taken away, we have to maintain a certain level of prices,” he said, adding that Russia should solve this problem not with artificial cuts of prices but with an increase of wages of people and of their wealth.

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