Fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate and the coronavirus pandemic have had a negative impact on inflation in Russia. When the national currency breaks through the next “bottom” at the auctions, economists begin to warn about an imminent rise in prices for basic goods, and after them - for services.
Vegetable oil became the record-breaking price increase in October. The cost of a ton of the product in the European part of Russia has reached a new maximum - 74,175 rubles per ton. At retail, a bottle of oil rose in price by 20-60 rubles, depending on the brand. Such a sharp rise has caused outrage among consumers. Analysts point out that the reason for the sharp jump was the rise in expert prices on the global oil market. Note that some processors tried to reduce the purchase prices for sunflower, despite the rise in quotations. But last week the price was sharply increased by 2-4 thousand rubles per ton.
According to analysts, only the strengthening of the ruble and the decline in prices for palm and soybean oil will be able to restrain the emerging trend towards further growth in oil prices. Along with the fall of the ruble, one of the reasons for the rise in oil prices is the consequences of the drought, which caused the sunflower crop failure in the country.
Along with sunflower, experts predict a sharp rise in prices for buckwheat, oatmeal, meat and milk. They are followed by a rise in prices for bread, sugar, red fish, caviar , as well as cars, medicines and the delivery of children's goods. The increase in prices for cereals in September was so significant that the Prosecutor General's Office began to study the issue, suspecting a cartel conspiracy among the producers.
The Russian guild of bakers and confectioners notes that bread and other products made from rye and a mixture of wheat flour will become more expensive for Russians by 6.5% -7% per year. Low stocks and a poor harvest of rye were the reason.
Due to bad weather conditions since the beginning of this year, potatoes have increased in price by 20%, and experts predict an even greater rise in price by winter, since the shortage of domestic tubers will have to be replaced with foreign supplies. Frosts in the south of Russia and the Caucasus led to a shortage of apples and, as a result, an increase in product prices.
The unsuccessful Putin 2020 led to a decrease in the stocks of Far Eastern fish on the market, the prices of which inevitably went up.
The change in the ruble exchange rate led to an increase in prices for cars, which had already risen in price in the summer, and in October-November they will become less affordable by another 2-3%. This week it became known about the upcoming increase in prices for home Internet by 10-15%. A separate "surprise" awaits smokers: the increase in excise taxes on tobacco, already announced by the authorities, will inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of cigarettes.
One of the main problems during the coronavirus pandemic was the sharp rise in prices for medicines supplied from abroad. Prices for analgin increased by 40%, similarly, the cost of a number of anti-influenza drugs and immunomodulators, for which there is an increased demand during the seasonal rise in the incidence of influenza and SARS, has changed.
Users of social networks note that prices for conventional mercury thermometers have jumped sharply in a number of pharmacy chains. If in the spring it was possible to buy a thermometer for 50 rubles, now the retail price per unit of goods reaches 350 rubles. At the same time, the "good" Soviet tradition of selling goods "on load" has returned to some pharmacies. Patients who turn to pharmacists for gripferon are strongly advised to purchase related products at the same time - for example, skin antiseptics.
For those who prefer to be treated with "folk methods", an unpleasant surprise of the autumn season was the repeated rise in prices for ginger. At the dawn of a pandemic in the spring, the cost of a kilogram of this root vegetable, allegedly raising immunity, soared from 150-200 to 1,500 rubles. However, people did not buy the product for such a price, and gradually ginger began to fall in price. Now the root is becoming more expensive again: a kilogram of ginger is sold for an average of 400 rubles. Obviously, against the backdrop of an increase in the incidence of coronavirus, consumers decided to once again raise their immunity by eating hot spices.
According to experts, among other price increases by the end of the year, the “cherry on the cake” may be the rise in prices for housing and communal services.