Eggs will become a strategic product.
Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
HE IS NOT A SHY TEN
What did you do the night from Saturday to Sunday? And State Duma deputy Valery Seleznev did not sleep. He was thinking about Russia. To make our lives more prosperous, tastier and more satisfying. And so that the eggs don’t bother us.
And how much the price has risen, damn it! This is especially unpleasant towards the end of the year. Losing eggs on the Christmas table is something you wouldn’t wish on your enemy. After all, they are used in Olivier salad, in crab salad and, in general, are a source of easily digestible dietary protein to replace chicken and pork. And here it is: since the beginning of the year, the price of chicken eggs has risen by up to 36%. This is a record: if you look at Rosstat reports, not even plane tickets to Bangkok are becoming more expensive. At least fly to Thailand: maybe at least everything will be fine with their eggs.
But MPs don’t want us flying to Thailand in search of affordable eggs. And now a proposal has emerged from the depths of the State Duma.
– The chicken egg should not simply become a socially significant product, as it is now. It is necessary to change its status to strategic, since an egg, unlike, for example, chicken meat, cannot be replaced by anything else. With the change in status it will be understood that the regulatory mechanism for this product should not be market, but completely state, with the consequent consequences, including the use of subsidy instruments, wrote the first deputy chairman of the Duma Energy Committee State, Valery Seleznev, on his Telegram channel at 1:02 in the morning from Saturday to Sunday (as I say, while we rest, the deputies work – saints!). Spelling and punctuation have been preserved.
“What what?” – A reader who is not familiar with the processes of building a neo-Soviet-style economy will respond. Let’s explain. Strategic products are goods whose export is prohibited or controlled by the state. In general, the deputy proposes to prohibit (or subject to strict state control) the export of eggs, as well as to establish state regulation of the prices of this long-suffering product. And at the same time subsidize the producers.
– Just because we recognize this or that product as strategic, it will not appear on the shelves and the hen will not lay better eggs, it will not stop getting sick and dying. These initiatives are probably designed to attract the attention of society or the state… But they will not be able to solve the problem fundamentally, – Dmitry Gordeev, head of the Center for Economic and Analytical Research of the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems named after. V. M. Gorbatova
However, Deputy Seleznev is not alone in his desire. The Ministry of Agriculture also proposes to ban the export of eggs for six months. What if it works and prices collapse, crashing into the Iron Curtain?
Let’s arm ourselves with numbers. As Galina Bobyleva, director of the Russian Poultry Union, explained to us, Russia currently supplies about 500 million eggs a year abroad. This is only 1% of the total production. Therefore, banning this drop in the bucket is unlikely to play much of a role. But it will add problems to manufacturers.
– Our eggs are mainly exported to Mongolia. And the exporters are companies from the Irkutsk and Chita regions,” says Elena Stepanova. – If they are prohibited from exporting eggs today, they will stay in these regions, which already have a high level of self-sufficiency (156% in the Irkutsk region). That is, there will be no demand in the domestic market for this volume. Companies will have to cut production and employment. In addition, they will incur serious costs and losses due to the payment of sanctions provided for in export contracts. Companies from the Irkutsk region have been supplying products to Mongolia for more than 20 years and have proven themselves well in this market, occupying a significant part of it. And if an export ban is imposed for six months, it is unlikely that our companies will return to this market. As a result, we will lose much more than we gain.
SICKLE AT PRICES
But there are real ways to reduce egg prices. One of them, by the way, was proposed by Deputy Seleznev – state subsidies. That is, the State does not slap the producer on the wrist, but, on the contrary, gives him money in exchange for the obligation to reduce prices: a completely reasonable offer.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service announced another measure: it proposed that retail chains limit profit margins on eggs to 5%. Since eggs are a socially important product, the State has the right to influence their price. The president of the Russian Consumer Union, Petr Shelishch, supports this initiative.
“Eggs belong to the category of irreplaceable products,” explains Peter Shelishch. – But it is not necessary to make the egg too cheap: the price should reflect the balance between supply and demand.
And the Ministry of Agriculture proposes one more measure: zero tariffs on egg imports.
“Eggs are imported to Russia from Belarus and Kazakhstan; This is an established close collaboration,” explains Elena Stepanova.
ASK FROM THE EDGE
Why have they increased in price?
“First of all, seasonal price increases always occur before the New Year and before Easter,” explains Galina Bobyleva, president of the Russian Poultry Union. – Secondly, inflation had an impact. Feed, packaging, spare parts for poultry farm equipment are becoming more and more expensive (many components are purchased abroad, ed.), etc. Third, demand is increasing.
There are other problems, for example the increase in electricity rates, which represent up to 50% of the costs of poultry farms. And the outbreaks of bird flu, for which millions of laying hens had to be destroyed in Russia this year.
– At the same time, the volume of egg production does not decrease. This year it will be at the same level as last year: approximately 46 billion units. That is to say, there is no shortage of eggs on the market! – says Galina Bobyleva.
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