The Ministry of Industry and Trade opposed new agreements on price containment

Agreements to contain prices for sugar and sunflower oil are already beginning to disrupt established supply chains, and the conclusion of new similar agreements requires a macroeconomic analysis of medium and long-term consequences. This was announced on Wednesday by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov.

“This is an agreement that we apply for sugar and butter, now it has dampened prices, it is producing results, but we'll see what happens next. Already the logistics supply chains are starting to break down because everyone wants to buy from the manufacturer. Manufacturers do not have the opportunity to ship to everyone, because this is a huge volume of applications. Old established ties are breaking down,” he said, speaking at parliamentary hearings of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues.

Currently, wholesale and retail prices for sugar and sunflower oil are regulated by agreements between suppliers and retailers. The agreements expire on March 31 this year, Interfax reports.

Evtukhov urged to carefully evaluate the consequences of the introduction of state price regulation: “When we make such decisions, we need to conduct, of course, macroeconomic analysis and forecasts - and understand what will happen in the medium and long term with all this, what will happen from price fixing.”

“As for price regulation by the state, of course we are against it,” the deputy minister said, adding that, nevertheless, the state now has a mechanism for introducing state regulation when prices for socially important goods increase by more than 10% during the month.

“We have already seen price fixing, we have already seen the planned economy. Do we have a large selection in stores? No. And we remember the queues in Soviet stores. There were good things, but there were also a lot of problems, ”the official recalled.

According to him, retail is already independently taking measures to minimize the rise in prices for socially important goods by “shifting” the markup to the premium segment. As an example, Yevtukhov cited the prices for chicken carcasses, which, according to the deputy minister, retailers are now selling “in the red” for themselves in order to dampen price increases. At the same time, "retail chains have limited opportunities to contain prices."

“It is really necessary to progressively accept the increase in prices for goods. There is no other way, so as not to be left without goods on the shelf, so that there is no shortage. Negotiations are underway, after negotiations, if there are objective prerequisites for raising prices from producers, then trade goes for it and accepts these prices,” the Deputy Minister noted.

During the discussion with the deputies, Yevtukhov urged not to shift the responsibility for rising prices to retailers and, moreover, suggested paying attention to the high profitability of large and medium-sized agricultural holdings, which, according to the Deputy Minister, range from 17% to 77%.

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“If the owner of agricultural holdings, large companies, medium-sized ones, receives such income, then what prevents him from raising the wages of those who work on the tractor? Let's ask this question then ... Less dividends - higher wages. Profitability allows, ”the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade believes.

He also stressed that according to Rosstat, the average trade margin for socially important food products in retail trade is about 15%. “In federal and regional networks, it is even less,” he said.