The antimonopoly committee should check whether egg producers have objective reasons for doubling the price of these products.
Ilya Neskhodovskyi, the head of the analytical department of theNational Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS”, emphasized this on Channel 5.
“The Antimonopoly Committee should definitely look into this. I understand that there are valid reasons for the price increase – the cost of compound feed has increased, some poultry farms have been destroyed, and thus their number has decreased. However, if it is possible to send eggs to the UAE, then perhaps our egg producers decided that Ukrainians should pay the same price as the rest of the world. This is unacceptable,” Neskhodovskyi said.
He believes that there are several reasons for the price increase of this type of product, but not twice.
“Compound feed has become more expensive, but it became more expensive in the summer, and logistics have been disrupted, though much has already been restored. That is, there are numerous factors indicating that they do not work now but did previously. Egg prices have always risen seasonally in the fall, but not by twice as much,” – according to the expert.
He also emphasized that state regulation of prices is not a way out of the situation.
“I am opposed to state regulation because it always leads to a deficit. Remember the story with gasoline, when the government decided to regulate and gasoline disappeared. Therefore, this tool should not be used. If there is a sound economic reason for growth, it will occur. If prices are set lower than the costs associated with the production and delivery of products, these products will not be produced. This is a perfectly reasonable mechanism. In this case, what else can the government do? Increase social protection. It is necessary to identify those people who do not have a sufficient income and to pay them an amount sufficient to cover their expenses. Are there any resources available for this? There aren’t many of them, but you can find them,” he said.
