Europe was again scared: no longer cold, but hungry winter

While some countries are waiting for an energy crisis and stocking up on firewood for the winter, others are seriously afraid of food shortages and inevitable famine. Such ominous forecasts are made at the highest levels and it is not surprising that they sow confusion and vacillation among the citizens of many states. And we are not talking about the poorest countries in Africa, but about quite seemingly prosperous European …

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said at recent talks in the UAE that the world is facing a food crisis and needs to prepare for it. In Serbia itself, they decided not to shelve things. From August 1 and right up to March 31, 2023, a state of emergency was activated there – although not officially declared. While the court and the case, the price of bread was limited for a month.

Serbia is a country not far from us in a geographical sense, and in a political sense it is friendly. So the parallels are appropriate. I wonder how much the new harvest bread will cost in Russia? And will we, following the example of Serbia, freeze prices for it? Recall that state regulation of prices begins if a socially significant product has risen in price by 10% within 30 days.

But we are already accustomed to the fact that in any situation and with any overproduction, our prices still grow. Is the gasoline that we export around the world getting more expensive? So it rises in price everywhere, knowledgeable people explain. Have prices increased for mineral fertilizers, which we also sell to other countries? So they have risen in price everywhere … In general, will we remember our own experience in limiting the prices of sugar and sunflower oil?

Apparently, the food crisis will affect not only the African continent, but, according to financial analyst Vladimir Grigoriev, it will also be felt by wealthy countries. There, as he suggests, they will also “tighten their belts”, limit their appetites.

In a word, the situation smacks of a serious global crisis and we are unlikely to get off with the traditional 5-10 percent rise in food prices. Everything will be grown-up if European Serbia has already begun to limit prices.

On the one hand, it is good for our fellow citizens if prices are frozen, rolls and gingerbread will not rise in price. On the other hand, we know how it all usually ends. In retail chains, in order to reduce losses from sales, prices for “non-essential” products rise. Well, then, when the inspectors get tired of checking the malls, prices will rise again. which was “frozen” before. And everything turns out that it is better for the consumer in Russia that prices are not limited by the command-and-control method.

Although, on common sense, why would bakery products rise in price? Already this year we have a record grain harvest, we are able to export 50 million tons of wheat. True, this does not mean that we will deliver – geopolitics is already intervening in the matter … On the other hand, even more will remain on the domestic market. What is the probability that prices will rise?

Similar precedents, meanwhile, happened. Last year we exported 36 million tons of wheat. Not 50, of course, but also a lot, they are among the world’s leading exporters. For internal needs, too, left with a vengeance. And what? Bread, during its overproduction, imperceptibly and unobtrusively added 18% in price during the year.

So will the Serbian example be contagious for us? We already know how to limit the prices of some products ..

According to Igor Abakumov, Candidate of Economic Sciences, host of the Rural Hour program, there is a lot of food in the world, and if politicians had even a drop of conscience, then no one would starve. Food is distributed unfairly. According to the FAO (UN food division), about 30% of food is thrown into the trash every year. For the production of which energy, labor and other resources have been expended.

“Developed countries do not eat 1.5 billion tons of food a year, they are thrown away and go, among other things, to feed livestock,” he says. – Approximately 15 million tons of waste end up in Russia. You need to buy less, do not fill refrigerators to capacity. Unfortunately, small shops in large cities have practically disappeared, and it was in them that residents bought goods quite moderately, without frills. And in supermarkets, everyone piles food into a cart with a mountain. Then this good deteriorates and goes to the landfill.

– This year, due to weather anomalies, is unlikely to please the developed countries with a wide choice of products. Food prices – this is what all experts predict – will rush up. Is there a possibility of a sharp rise in the price of bread in Russia?

– In the price of a loaf of bread, the cost of wheat takes less than 20%. The remaining 80% of the cost is sugar, salt, margarine. Let’s add electricity, which is getting more expensive by leaps and bounds for the producer, labor costs, wages… If the price of wheat remains unshakable, it is far from certain that the other components will not change their price tags. Therefore, bread, like other products, will rise in price with any harvest. Another thing is that there are different types of bread. Social – for the mass buyer, they practically do not change their price, as a rule, large balances remain in stores. It is unlikely that the matter will come to “freezing” the prices for this product.