Tymoshenko government sets a 2% cap on monthly bread prices hikes

There will be an estimated 4% grain deficit on world markets in 2008, he said. “No matter how hard we try to keep bread prices, we have to face the shortage of grain on world markets. The deficit will push up grain prices, then flour prices and finally bread prices,” the official said.

Grain prices will grow insignificantly ahead of the 2008 harvest, M. Kozhushko predicts. Due to the government-ordered interventions of cheaper grain, bread prices are not expected to go up by more than 2% a month. The Lviv oblast will receive 2.6 thousand tons of grain from the State Reserve and Agrarian Fund. It means that, as of this week, the local authorities will supply flour to bakeries at reduced prices, something that will help keep bread prices at projected levels, the Lviv oblast official said.