Buckwheat producers in Altai Territory, Oryol Region and Bashkiria intend to reduce prices for buckwheat groats. This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia published on December 16 following a series of meetings of the head of the department Dmitry Patrushev by producers of various categories of agricultural products and food. The chairman of the Potato Union Sergei Lupekhin also announced his readiness to stabilize prices.
“During the meeting on the situation on the buckwheat and buckwheat groats market, it was noted that at the moment the prices for these products have stabilized. <...> In addition, the producers of the Altai Territory, the Oryol Region and the Republic of Bashkortostan, which account for about 70% of the production of this crop in the country, announced their intention to reduce the selling prices for buckwheat, “the Ministry of Agriculture said.
Lupekhin, in turn, stressed that the potato producers in the country – the farms of the Bryansk, Tula, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Tyumen regions – emphasize the importance of preventing sharp price surges for this commodity item and are ready to take measures to stabilize the cost of production.
Earlier that day, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the Cabinet had prepared agreements to stabilize food prices. The head of government stressed that the measures taken to contain prices are short-term and should not be carried away.
On the eve of Mishustin signed a resolution to stabilize the situation on the food market. One of them concerns special agreements between the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Federal Antimonopoly Service with food manufacturers and retail chains. Such agreements should reduce and maintain at a normal level prices for certain types of demanded goods.
On December 14, the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov said that agreements between sugar and sunflower oil producers and retail chains would be concluded by December 20. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture announced new reduced prices for this category of goods.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the government over rising food prices. The head of state stressed that the rise in food prices was caused by economic reasons, it has nothing to do with the pandemic and the level of production.