The government wants to reduce the markup on socially important products to 5% – Kommersant

The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Federal Antimonopoly Service want to convince retail chains to reduce markups on some socially important products to 5%. About it informs Kommersant, citing sources.

According to the publication, this issue was discussed at a meeting with the participation of the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev and the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov on February 3.

The list of products is planned to include beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, drinking milk, cottage cheese, kefir, butter, sugar, as well as non-durable bakery products.

The Ministry of Agriculture considers it expedient to minimize trade margins for certain categories of products in organized trade up to zero before the start of the new agricultural season – July 1, 2022.

“This practice will help increase the availability of socially significant products for the population,” the ministry said.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that the issue is being worked out jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The service did not provide an immediate comment.

At the beginning of this year, X5 Group (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel) and Magnit themselves notified the Federal Antimonopoly Service of their readiness to limit margins by no more than 10% for socially important food products. X5 said that the restrictions would affect more than 20 categories and would take effect from January 12 in all stores. Magnit clarified that the markup would be limited to about 200 items from 25 categories, including vermicelli, some types of vegetables, bread, milk, butter, buckwheat.