Union says no prerequisites for Russian food prices to fall

MOSCOW, Jan 11 (PRIME) -- There are no prerequisites for Russian food prices to fall and the government has to solve the issue through support of people with low incomes, Dmitry Leonov, deputy chairman of the management board of the Association of Producers and Suppliers of Food Products, told PRIME on Tuesday.

“Although producers have been trying to hold down the growth of production costs for the past two years, there are no prerequisites for the prices to fall today, unfortunately,” Leonov said.

The coronavirus pandemic and its consequences became a force majeure for the food producers that led to disruptions of supplies and contracts, a higher cost of imported components, raw materials, logistics, and packaging, he said.

The main goal of the government is to ensure food affordability without destroying the business. “We think that targeted financial support to the people with the lowest incomes could be a solution of the issue … Besides, this form of support introduces less disruptions to the healthy market relations and the economy in general unlike price regulations,” he said.

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