The retailer X5 Retail Group, controlled by billionaire Mikhail Fridman and uniting the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel chains, informed the Ministry of Industry and Trade that suppliers had increased prices for products, the Kommersant newspaper wrote on Wednesday, citing a source close to the department.

According to the publication's interlocutor, shrimp supplier Sea Prod LLC warned X5 Retail Group about an increase in selling prices by 20-36% from August 11 due to increased costs for transportation and storage of goods and the transition to prepayments for raw materials with its suppliers. The retailer also received similar notifications about price increases from the supplier of red fish, JSC SK Retail, and LLC Fruit Service, which supplies fruits and vegetables, the source says.

“We have received several letters about price increases, which we cannot agree with,” confirmed Vladimir Rusanov, head of the public relations department of X5 Retail Group. According to him, the group notified suppliers that it could provide this information to regulators as part of daily monitoring, “so that the authorities have objective data on who initiates the increase, by how much and under what pretext.” At the same time, he noted that X5 Retail Group will try to negotiate with suppliers on mutually acceptable conditions.

The O'Key group of companies and Metro Cash & Carry reported that they had not received notifications from suppliers about price adjustments. It was not possible to get comments from Magnit, Dixie and Lenta. A source in one of the large retail chains said that the retailer also received warnings about price increases, but only verbal ones, and therefore could not contact the government.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that retailers have not yet sent official notifications to the department about price increases by food suppliers. The department did not rule out that retail chains could inform officials unofficially. The authorities are already seeing attempts by meat suppliers to speculate and promise to suppress such actions, a government source said.

Sea Prod denies an increase in shrimp prices, but noted that due to limited production due to the food embargo, production volumes will be redistributed within the framework of concluded agreements with counterparties. IC "Retail" confirmed the fact of notification to retailers. It was not about the supply of chilled Norwegian fish, which is no longer in the company’s warehouses, but about Chilean salmon products, the cost of which is higher due to more expensive logistics, explained the company’s development director Mikhail Skobkin. The company could not predict how expensive fish from Chile would become, since the fish had not yet been purchased. The newspaper was unable to obtain a comment from Fruit Service LLC.

On Tuesday, Vedomosti reported that retail chains received a list of products, the prices of which will be monitored by officials. According to the publication, the list included wheat flour, rice, buckwheat, pasta, sunflower oil, sugar, salt, tea, and water. boiled, boiled-smoked and raw smoked sausages, beef, pork and chicken meat, fish, canned food, eggs, black and white bread, milk 2.5-4% fat, cottage cheese (5-9%), kefir (3.2% ), sour cream (15%) and hard cheese. Of vegetables and fruits, the list includes potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, apples, bananas, grapes, oranges and tangerines. Retailers have been reporting prices on this list to regional authorities since Friday, August 8, representatives of two retail companies told the publication.

Retailers complained to the government about rising prices for products from suppliers