Heatwave drives Russians to the verge of panic purchases
MOSCOW, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia may face the artificially created shortage of basic foods because of the widespread rumors that current heatwave destroyed crops across the country, RIA Novosti news agency cartier sunglasses reported on Tuesday.
Retail prices for bread may go up by 20 to 30 percent, due to grassroots rush on the food market, a famed Russian economist Nadezhda Shkolkina said.
Shkolkina accused mass media of creating "artificial agitation" on the topic that has provoked people to buy flour, sugar, cereals, spaghetti, sunflower oil in bulk.
As a result, prices for flour have jumped by 100 percent in some regions, cartier sunglasses she said.
cartier sunglasses"Unless the government stops the panic urgently, the bread market prices will rise from 20 to 30 percent shortly", Shkolkina, a member of the Russian Public Chamber's economic development commission, warned.
She believed there were no economic reasons for price growth on bread and flour.
According to the Russia's Agricultural Ministry, by mid-July the crops have been destroyed on 9.6 million hectares of 48 million hectares under crop. This year's harvest forecast has been lowered by 5 million tons, to 85 polo shirts million.
polo shirts Yet, 24 million tones of grain from last year's harvest have been in stocks across the country. That would bring up the volume of national granaries to over 100 million tons.
polo shirtsGrain consumption in Russia does not exceed 77 million ton, so the country has plenty of grain this year, officials say.
