Bread costs up in Jewish Autonomous Region

BIROBIDZHAN, Russia, July 26 (UPI) -- The retail costs of bread, flour and other bakery goods rose 20 to 30 percent Thursday in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region, Itar-Tass has reported.

The steep price hikes stem from an increase of up to 40 percent in the wholesale prices of flour.

The price surge comes a day after the Russian Grain Union predicted an increase of 20 percent in the price of bread by the end of the year.

Union president Arkady Zlochevsky told reporters in Moscow this is because the price of grain doubled to almost $200 a ton.

Denying there is a shortage of grain, Zlochevsky said the increase in price was directly related to "the rise in grain demand in the world market."

Itar-Tass said Russian companies prefer to export their grain crops.

In response to the soaring bread prices, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council upper chamber, has proposed the state regulation of the cost of staple foods.