The Ministry of Agriculture explains rising prices for dairy products and vegetables as a seasonal factor
‘Prices for milk and dairy products correspond to seasonal trends. In the autumn-winter period, production volumes traditionally decrease and production costs increase, which has an impact on price dynamics,’ the ministry said in a statement.
‘The currently fixed price dynamics in the vegetable market is also largely due to the seasonal factor,’ the press release explains. ‘In winter, the share of more expensive imported vegetables is traditionally growing on the market, which leads to an increase in average prices for these products. At the same time, a decrease in consumer demand for vegetables after the New Year creates prerequisites for correcting their cost.’
The Ministry of Agriculture reminds that ‘despite extremely unfavorable weather conditions in 2021, according to preliminary data from the regions, about 5.3 million tons of field vegetables were harvested in the organized sector, which is almost the same as in 2020.’ In addition, last year a record harvest of vegetables in winter greenhouses was obtained - the gross harvest amounted to more than 1.4 million tons. In particular, the production of cucumbers amounted to about 830 thousand tons, and tomatoes - 590 thousand tons.
Farmers also harvested 6.7 million tons of potatoes.
On Wednesday, Rosstat reported that prices for pasteurized milk in the first decade of January increased by 0.4%, for UHT milk - by 0.6%, for sour cream - by 0.5%, for cottage cheese - by 0.2%. Fruit and vegetable products rose in price by an average of 3.1%. Higher than this indicator were the growth rates of prices for cucumbers - by 7.4%, tomatoes - by 6.7%, cabbage - by 6%, bananas - by 3.8%, carrots - by 3.6%. Potatoes and onions rose by 1.6%, beets - by 1.4%, apples - by 0.8%.