Inflation and deficit can’t be stopped

Belarusian propaganda decided to use the FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) forecast about the increase of grain corps prices in order to explain the using in the Belarusian economic processes such socialism’s rudiments as price control by state and centralized system of food support.

“Belarus is probably the only CIS country, where the centralized system of food support and control of price of main foodstuff have been preserved”, deputy minister of agriculture and food of Belarus Mikhail Savelyeu said BelTA.

But for some reason, the Belarusian consumers have no guaranties of price stability, though, according to the official, but such economy doesn’t allow hike in food prices.

“In Belarus, unlike in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Moldova, there was no such jump in prices of dairy, meat and bakery products, because the republic has the necessary amount of grain, we have enough milk and meat, and the production output will grow”, the deputy minister explained.

He also pointed out that Belarus is safe from price hike because the main products “we produce ourselves, except for sunflower oil, tea, coffee and seafood”.

These statements were made on the background of the counters in Belarusian shops with poor stock of meat and dairy products that have become much more expensive lately. So, only over the period from June to early October the prices of dairy products have grown by 13.7 per cent (price of milk of the same producer and in the same store unit), the AFN remarks.

But the deputy minister thinks the data on harvest-2007 prove the contrary and allow to say that Belarus is able to assure its inner market, including the demands of animal unit. He reminded that in 2007 harvest of grain including corn, has amounted 8 mln tons in Belarus.

With that, Savelyeu doesn’t take into account the mass export of milk and meat products to Russia by Belarusian enterprises (not export by individuals!) which is favorable not only because of grows of price of this production in Russia, but also of both the demands of Belarusian authorities to increase currency earnings and the fact that the Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision delayed the strengthening of quality requirements of the imported from Belarus production till 1 March 2008 (instead of before planned October 2007).

“The export doesn’t prevent the inner market saturation. In the last years we exported up to 52 per cent of milk and meat production”, the official says, but he makes no secret that “it is extremely profitable in the present conditions”.

From 4.8 mln tons of milk produced in Belarus, the agricultural enterprises export 2.7 mln tons of whole milk production – butter, cheese, tinned milk, dried whole and nonfat milk.

But the quality of the produced food is decreasing in Belarus. The reason is the tendency to keep price down. According to Mikhail Savelyeu, the agricultural enterprises were given a task to increase the production quality and in particular to increase the vendibility of milk and meat. Up to 85 per cent of milk should be processed on milk factories and cheese diaries, up to 80 per cent of meat – on meat-processing plants, where it can get advanced processing.

But so far, Belarusians have to buy young but rather chip Belarusian 30%-fat cheese and allegedly 52%-fat dairy butter with soy additive. Or they have to pay twice as much for the similar food imported from the Baltic countries and Ukraine. And enjoy the social oriented economy with price control and centralized logistic system.