MINSK, 29 October (BelTA) – The Belarusian government will keep tab on buckwheat prices in order to avoid dramatic rises, Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Dvornik told the media after he had delivered a report on completing this year's harvesting campaign and on fulfilling the instructions to increase and diversify the export to the head of state, BelTA has learned.
“Buckwheat prices are an issue as Russia procured 20% less buckwheat in 2019 than in recent years,” Vladimir Dvornik noted. “Belarus has some remains of last year's harvest in stock in addition to this year's harvest. The government will monitor the situation with buckwheat in order to avoid surges in prices,” he added.
In recent years, buckwheat prices in the Belarusian market were a bit higher that in Russia, but they are roughly the same now, Vladimir Dvornik added. “This is why do not I think that there will be some dramatic price increases and issues with this product. However, the government will keep track of the situation,” he said.
BelTA reported earlier that during the meeting, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that this year's buckwheat harvest is smaller than last year's. “The buckwheat harvest in Russia was poor. Keep in mind that all the buckwheat may be drained to Russia while we will have only small amounts left at a high price. I don't want such prices. We have a deal,” the head of state warned.
In October, Russian mass media wrote that buckwheat prices in the country had begun to grow due to the poor harvest, the lowest in the last five years. “Buckwheat suppliers notify retail networks of growing prices. They started to introduce such charges in September 2019,” the Russian business daily Vedomosti wrote. According to it, suppliers of buckwheat intend to raise prices by up to 50%.
