Price imbalances in the Russian food market

Food pricing is the most important process in terms of ensuring the food and economic security of the state and, in some situations, requires state intervention and regulation by direct and indirect methods. In Russian economic and managerial practice, indirect regulatory instruments have been widely used, requiring variation between short-term pro-inflationary risks and medium- and long-term risks of a decline and slowdown in investment and production growth. The increase in food prices was noted in 2020 against the background of an increase in the incidence of coronavirus infection. Price stabilization on the part of the state and business was achieved through the implementation of such measures as an agreement on measures to stabilize prices for sugar and sunflower oil, customs tariff and non-tariff regulation, as well as additional measures of state support for producers. For a number of food categories, there is a dependence on foreign breeding material, equipment and components. Ensuring the growth of the production of import-substituting products is one of the key directions of the development of the Russian economy and the sphere of agriculture. In modern conditions, the implementation of import substitution policy, producers of meat and dairy products have increased the share of products from the low price category in their assortment. At the level of the Central Federal District, there is an increase in the area of acreage for potatoes and vegetables of the open ground, and with state support it is planned to complete a number of investment projects for the construction of vegetable storages. It is the expansion of acreage, the achievement of self-sufficiency with breeding material, equipment and components that will neutralize the possible effects of negative subjective factors on the price level of food products.