Bashkortostan holds milk prices in check

Bashkortostan goes on keeping milk prices back. The Bashkir State Statistics Committee reports in January-October 2009 the prices for milk and milk products fell by 3,2% as compared with the same period of time in 2008.

Certain rise of the retail prices in September – by 1,6% - was a seasonal phenomenon. This figure is substantially lower than the average Russian growth of prices – by 10-15%. The calculations were made by the Russian State Statistics Committee.

The experts bind the growth of prices with the changes in the technical regulations for milk and milk products. Now the milk, restored from the dry one, is qualified not as a milk but as a “milk drink”, which is not popular among population – therefore we observe the surplus of this product. The storehouses of dry milk producers are overstock.

In opinion of the first deputy Prime-Minister RB, Minister of agriculture RB Shamil Vahitov trade plays the decisive role in pricing and it will be decisive in the future too until the law about trade activity is passed. In his opinion the socially-oriented foods have to stay under the wing of the state, i.e. the trade extra charge should be regulated from above. But up to that moment local authorities have to invent various methods for harnessing the prices. For example in 2009 the leading trade companies of Ufa, Ufa administration and Ministry of agriculture RB signed the three-sided cooperation agreement concerning supply of local population with foods at reasonable prices. The agreement was signed by the directors of 10 trade networks, 20 supermarkets and 16 trade centers and markets.