12 friends of the Minselkhoz

In January-February 2021, prices increased by 1.5%, writes Kommersant. The Interdepartmental working group for monitoring and prompt response to changes in prices for socially significant goods created in December 2020 (under the leadership of First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Andrei Belousov) gave the first public result.

So, on February 27, 2021, by Direction No. 497-r, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the List of groups of consumer goods and services related to the scope of federal executive authorities. The purpose of distributing goods among departments is to understand the reasons for the rise in consumer prices and, accordingly, to develop some measures of economic regulation to balance the markets of consumer goods and services. According to the logic of the document, 12 positions are assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia - product groups: 1. Meat products 2. Fish products 3. Oil and fats 4. Milk and dairy products, including cheese 5. Eggs 6. Sugar 7. Confectionery 8. Tea, coffee 9. Bread and bakery products 10. Pasta and cereals 11. Fruit and vegetable products, including potatoes 12. Tobacco products In general, the Ministry of Economics together with Rosstat and the FAS Russia will be responsible for monitoring and assessing price dynamics. It is expected that the brainchild of an interdepartmental working group will become a new tool that will allow to establish a systematic analysis of the market situation, predict the risks of rising prices for significant products and take timely measures to curb price increases. It is gratifying that government agencies are switching to risk-oriented approaches in the implementation of their activities. Thus, the mechanism for the implementation of Direction No. 497-r assumes that in case of a tendency towards an accelerated rise in prices for consumer goods and services, significantly exceeding the inflation rate in general, or risks of such growth, the Ministry of Economics sends the relevant information to federal executive authorities according to the List. Further, the responsible federal executive authority, together with the FAS Russia and colleagues, conduct a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of prices for the relevant consumer goods and services and the factors of their formation. And if necessary, they submit to the Government of the Russian Federation coordinated proposals on measures of economic regulation. I wonder what methods of identifying the risks of rising prices will the Ministry of Economics use?