Page 35 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

4.2.1 CPI dynamics
Russian retailers will increase their food prices in January 2024 due to a slew of problems partly connected to global warming.
Wimm-Bill-Dann warned of an increase in prices for dairy products by 4.9% and for juices by 16.1%. Ehrmann yoghurts will rise in price by 5%. Multon Partners (formerly Coca Cola) raises prices for soft drinks by 13%, Nestle for coffee - by 15%, for confectionery - by 8%, for breakfast cereals - up to 9.5%, Lyubyatovo for cookies - by 6%. Chocolate from Ritter Sport and Ferrero Rocher will rise in price by 7–14%. The wholesale price of rice from Agroimport will rise by 22%, the publication lists, The Bell reports.
For a number of groups, the reason is the global situation: coffee and cocoa are becoming more expensive due to global warming, rice - due to crop failure in India and Thailand, which have stopped exporting. Russian rice farming meets domestic needs only by 50–70%.
The most important thing is that transportation and logistics have become more expensive. Lyubyatovo writes about an increase in transport costs by 41.5%, Multon Partners - by 37%. The data from retail chains is confirmed by carriers: on the main routes (Moscow-St. Petersburg, Moscow-Krasnodar), the price of a truck flight has increased by 50%, to 70-110 thousand rubles.
Logistics companies had to raise staff salaries by more than 50%, the cost of renting warehouses by 40%, and doubling the cost of updating their fleet, market participants told Kommersant. There is a pre-New Year price peak, but that’s not the point - no one expects a rollback to 2022 tariffs.
A new eco-friendly law will also increase the cost of packaging by 15% in 2024.
35 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com