Millers raised wholesale prices for flour between 20 percent and 40 percent after they ran out of cheaper grain supplies because of the country’s worst drought in 50 years, the anti-monopoly watchdog has said.
“Flour prices continue to increase in almost all regions of Russia,” the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said in a statement dated Tuesday. Retailers raised flour prices between 7 percent and 20 percent, the agency said.
Bread prices, which have remained at about the same level, may rise 10 percent to 15 percent by early September, the watchdog said. Retailers in some regions also raised prices for buckwheat by as much as 20 percent and for milk by as much as 18 percent, the agency said.
(Bloomberg)