FAS: PRICES FOR MEDICAL FACE MASKS ARE GROWING IN THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF REGIONS

The Antimonopoly Service reported to the Russian Government on the findings of its monitoring of prices for medical face masks

FAS exposed many-fold overrating of retail prices for medical face masks in January 2020 in 68 subjects of the Russian Federation. The highest increase of prices for particular types of masks was found in the Ivanovo region (by 485%), in the Tambov region (by 431%), in the Republic of Ingushetia (by 400%), in the Voronezh region (by 400%), in the Nizhny Novgorod region (by 374%), in the Murmansk region (by 354%) and in the Moscow region (by 305%).

An analysis of the data obtained by FAS from pharmacies showed that the growth of prices for medical face masks is mainly determined by an increase of purchasing prices. The most increase of wholesale prices, at which some pharmacies procured medical face masks in December 2019 - January 2020, is registered in the Republic of Adygeya (by 1566.7%), the Republic of Dagestan (by 650%), in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region (by 597.4%.), in the Nizhny Novgorod region (by 566.67%), in Moscow and the Moscow region (by 522%).

“We have exposed the facts of increased retail prices in 24 subjects of the Russian Federation that were not related to the growth of prices in the wholesale sector”,  commented Stats Secretary, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsarikovsky. “FAS will carry out control-and-compliance measures in each of those cases”.

The antimonopoly authority also exposed the facts of decreased wholesalers’ stocks and producers’ shortages of masks related to a soaring demand for the product. It should be underlined that representatives of pharmacy chains do not observe feverish demand in all subjects of the Russian Federation.

“The Antimonopoly Service continues watching carefully the situation with growing prices for medical face masks”, says Andrey Tsarikovsky. “In particular, FAS has instructed all its regional Offices to organize continued control over prices for this type of products, including control-and-compliance measures if signs of an unreasonable growth of retail prices are revealed. If FAS exposes elements of violating the antimonopoly law, all antimonopoly remedies shall apply to the violators”.