Vladivostok: struggles to curb growing bread prices

Vladivostok / RU. (it) Bread prices jumped 25 percent this week in the city of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East forcing authorities to take urgent measures to quell the discontent of the population. The Primorye Government took the situation under control and promised to sell bread to Vladivostok residents at affordable prices. According to Itar Tass Bakeries from nearby towns of Artem and Ussurijsk sent their bread to Vladivostok where it is sold for 18 to 19 rubles (0,75 USD) per loaf against 25 to 27 rubles for locally baked bread.

Experts believe the urgent measures will help stabilize the situation in several days and ease social tensions in Vladivostok. The tensions fanned up after the local city bakery – Vladkhleb – increased bread prices 15 percent at a time raising the cost of a loaf to 25 to 27 rubles – from 18 to 19 rubles. It explained the growth by rising flour and fuel prices. However, in other towns of the region bread prices did not grow so far. The local branch of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) checked Vladkhleb and exposed no violations. It said the profitability did not exceed 25 percent. «One cannot claim it is monopoly high price and monopoly high profit», said regional FAS head Vladimir Talantsev: «It is premature to blame the bakers for ungrounded bread price hikes without considering pricing problems with grain, flour and other components».

Some days ago Governor Sergej Darkin discussed the bread prices with Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev, Itar Tass reported. Zubkov recommended to resolve the problem with market economy methods, while Gordeyev promised to urgently sell to Vladivostok twelve thousands tons of grain from intervention funds located in Altai and Novosibirsk at a price 25 percent lower than the market cost.