FAS proposed to allow new regions to negotiate food prices with businesses

The Federal Antimonopoly Service proposed to give the authorities of the new regions that became part of Russia the right to enter into agreements on a voluntary basis with local businesses on marginal prices for socially significant goods. Such project Decrees of the department are published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

The description of the document notes that after the admission of new regions to the Russian Federation and the abolition of customs regulation, it is also necessary to abolish the state price regulation that was in force there earlier, since market participants can no longer calculate allowances from the import value of goods, and “the relevant regulatory legal acts do not comply with current legislation of the Russian Federation.

“The draft resolution provides a temporary opportunity for the regional authorities of the new territories to conclude agreements with business entities on curbing price increases and voluntary commitments to limit trade markups,” the project justifies.

The introduction of such a measure will help stabilize prices for socially significant goods and increase their availability for citizens, the authors of the initiative believe.

FAS in the comments RBC toldthat the regions will independently choose socially significant goods in respect of which such agreements will be concluded. The department did not specify for how long the introduction of this measure is proposed.

Earlier in November, the head of the FAS Maxim Shaskolsky informed on reducing margins on socially important goods in retail chains in the Russian Federation by an average of 18%. Shaskolsky also said that, in accordance with the methodology developed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the regions have revised the maximum mark-ups for vital and essential drugs (VED). This, he added, will allow cheap drugs to be returned to the shelves by expanding the boundaries of the lower price segment, as well as reduce the risk of a shortage of individual drugs.

At the beginning of March, the networksMagnet”, “OK”, “Auchan” and “Attacks” restricted margins on certain categories of goods up to 5%. Mark-ups were reduced for dairy products, bakery products, sugar and vegetables from the “borscht set”. Magnit reported that the margin limit would affect 304 commodity items in 27 categories included in the basic food basket. The markup will not exceed 5% for 276 products.

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