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No wheat or bread shortages are being foreseen.
Ukrainian Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko has said there will be no unpredictable price hikes for foodstuff in the country ahead of Easter holidays.
"Traditionally, there is a rise in prices for certain categories of products before Easter. But there were no unpredictable jumps in prices, and there won't be any," the ministry's press service quoted Petrashko as saying on April 12.
The rise in prices of foodstuff, which was observed three weeks ago, was halted. Prices remained stable over the past 10 days, the report said.
According to Petrashko, the rise in food prices in March was caused by three factors, namely the seasonal nature of price increases before Easter, currency devaluation, and speculative trading against the background of the COVID-19 quarantine.
Moreover, no deficit is being predicted of wheat and bread amid the coronavirus spread and the restrictive measures taken in Ukraine.
"Sufficient stocks of wheat and bread are a matter of concern for Ukrainians. As of the lowest point, that is, before the supplies of the new harvest grain start, we will have 3 million tonnes of wheat in stock, which is twice as much as we had at that time last year. This will ensure food security for us in full. Therefore, there will be no bread shortage," Petrashko said.
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According to the ministry, experts monitor food prices daily, remaining in dialogue with manufacturers, distributors, and grocery stores.
"Now the domestic food market is filled with all categories of goods, while the price situation is stable and controlled," the press service summed up.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on April 9, Ukrainian supermarket chains started to reduce the mark-up on essential goods.
Earlier, the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) recorded a rise in retail prices of food in certain Ukrainian regions amid the COVID-19 quarantine. Since early March, in some regions, prices of buckwheat had increased by more than 50%, while those of millet and sugar had grown by 24% and 16%, respectively. After that, the AMCU launched investigations into the anti-competitive actions by Ukrainian retail chains.