Russia: Government Inspectors Perform Mass Price Checks
From January 21-23, 2015, mass inspections were undertaken by representatives of Russia’s Prosecutor General Office in retail stores in more than thirty Russian cities. The inspectors were looking at food prices in order to detect violations and “unjustified” markups that lead to higher prices on certain categories of food products. Inspections affected all major retail chains such as Metro Cash & Carry, Auchan, Lenta, X5 Group and etc. The results of the checks indicate the prices many food products went up by 10-150 percent. The prosecutors submitted the result of their inspections to Federal Antimonopoly Service that is expected to follow up with financial penalties. In addition, nearly 100 store managers received “official warnings” from the Prosecutor General’s office on the inadmissibility of unjustified price increases.
