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EASTER INFLATION: CONSUMER PROTECTION GROUPS KEEP EYE ON FOOD PRICES AHEAD OF CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY
SOCIETY | 28.03.13 | 16:05
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
In anticipation of the biggest religious event in Armenia - Easter,
which this year comes on March 31 - food prices have gone up, consumer
rights organizations say, and that has become a tradition for the
local market.
Enlarge Photo Armen Poghosyan
"It's not the first years that stage-by-stage rise in prices can
be observed. Every time they give some explanations, but the truth
is rather simple: the demand grows, the prices grow. It would be
naïve to believe that the price hike every year is conditioned by
objective factors. These factors accidentally coincide with Easter,
while the objective ones don't," says head of the Consumers' Union
Armen Poghosyan.
Poghosyan says the State Revenue Commission's role is the key here,
because if an entity or a proprietor decides to raise the prices for
their products, there is no law to prevent that.
"It is about the way profit is taxed. If it were accurately taxed,
there wouldn't be price hike, because each price increase is subject
to a heavier tax, but since there is no control, this is the picture
we have," he says. "By our observations consumer basket commodities
have seen roughly 10-percent increase in prices."
Poghosyan says the work of the State Commission for the Protection
of Economic Competition (SCPEC) is very important as well, because
this body is authorized to check how grounded the price hike is,
but rather than doing it after the given holiday, it should do it at
the moment when manufacturers store up large amounts of products with
hopes for new prices.
"It is wrong to blame only the manufacturers. They claim they
distribute their products with the same prices as before and are not
liable for the selling prices at this or that shop. Consumers would
only win from timely supervision by the state commission," he says.
Starting last week the egg market (the key product for Easter) has
seen a rise of 5-drams/per egg. On Monday the SCPEC monitoring group
registered the price change in the egg market as well.
The price for Lusakert Poultry manufactured 10-egg pack has gone from
660 drams ($1.65) to 680 drams ($1.70), Arzni Poultry eggs are now
66 (16 cents) drams each instead of previous 64 drams (15 cents),
Yerevan Poultry's 30-egg pack is now sold at 1,920 drams ($4.8)
instead of 1,860 drams ($4.5), and Arax Poultry's one egg costs now
65 drams versus former 64.
SCPEC has made a decision to demand reports from the manufacturers
on daily basis concerning the production and realizations volumes,
the surplus, release prices, as well as documented justification for
price changes.
Consumers expect that the prices for the other must-have attributes
of the holiday table - fish, rice, raisins and greens - will go up
as well.
Union of Armenian Fish-Breeders NGO Artur Atayan says that fish
products will cost 100 drams/per kg more, and the price hike will
continue after the holiday, stating as a ground the dire financial
situation of the local fish-breeding entities.
"In 2012, 57 fisheries shut down, creating fish deficit. The majority
of functioning fisheries have large financial bank liabilities, many
have even used their houses as collateral for a bank loan," he says.
Atayan says, in 2011 the average wholesale price for a kilo of fish
was 1,500 drams ($4), while in 2012 it dropped to 1,150 drams ($3),
and currently is up to 1,450 (around $3.5). Retailers, however, have
their share of fault in the price hike, because they work with bigger
advantage and profitability than the fish-breeders.
SOCIETY | 28.03.13 | 16:05
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
In anticipation of the biggest religious event in Armenia - Easter,
which this year comes on March 31 - food prices have gone up, consumer
rights organizations say, and that has become a tradition for the
local market.
Enlarge Photo Armen Poghosyan
"It's not the first years that stage-by-stage rise in prices can
be observed. Every time they give some explanations, but the truth
is rather simple: the demand grows, the prices grow. It would be
naïve to believe that the price hike every year is conditioned by
objective factors. These factors accidentally coincide with Easter,
while the objective ones don't," says head of the Consumers' Union
Armen Poghosyan.
Poghosyan says the State Revenue Commission's role is the key here,
because if an entity or a proprietor decides to raise the prices for
their products, there is no law to prevent that.
"It is about the way profit is taxed. If it were accurately taxed,
there wouldn't be price hike, because each price increase is subject
to a heavier tax, but since there is no control, this is the picture
we have," he says. "By our observations consumer basket commodities
have seen roughly 10-percent increase in prices."
Poghosyan says the work of the State Commission for the Protection
of Economic Competition (SCPEC) is very important as well, because
this body is authorized to check how grounded the price hike is,
but rather than doing it after the given holiday, it should do it at
the moment when manufacturers store up large amounts of products with
hopes for new prices.
"It is wrong to blame only the manufacturers. They claim they
distribute their products with the same prices as before and are not
liable for the selling prices at this or that shop. Consumers would
only win from timely supervision by the state commission," he says.
Starting last week the egg market (the key product for Easter) has
seen a rise of 5-drams/per egg. On Monday the SCPEC monitoring group
registered the price change in the egg market as well.
The price for Lusakert Poultry manufactured 10-egg pack has gone from
660 drams ($1.65) to 680 drams ($1.70), Arzni Poultry eggs are now
66 (16 cents) drams each instead of previous 64 drams (15 cents),
Yerevan Poultry's 30-egg pack is now sold at 1,920 drams ($4.8)
instead of 1,860 drams ($4.5), and Arax Poultry's one egg costs now
65 drams versus former 64.
SCPEC has made a decision to demand reports from the manufacturers
on daily basis concerning the production and realizations volumes,
the surplus, release prices, as well as documented justification for
price changes.
Consumers expect that the prices for the other must-have attributes
of the holiday table - fish, rice, raisins and greens - will go up
as well.
Union of Armenian Fish-Breeders NGO Artur Atayan says that fish
products will cost 100 drams/per kg more, and the price hike will
continue after the holiday, stating as a ground the dire financial
situation of the local fish-breeding entities.
"In 2012, 57 fisheries shut down, creating fish deficit. The majority
of functioning fisheries have large financial bank liabilities, many
have even used their houses as collateral for a bank loan," he says.
Atayan says, in 2011 the average wholesale price for a kilo of fish
was 1,500 drams ($4), while in 2012 it dropped to 1,150 drams ($3),
and currently is up to 1,450 (around $3.5). Retailers, however, have
their share of fault in the price hike, because they work with bigger
advantage and profitability than the fish-breeders.