In Russian Stores, Prices are Not Only Going Up but Mix of Goods Available is Going Down

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 17 – Russians now face not just rising prices in stores but a decline in the mix of products available for purchase, Kommersant reports. Over the last year, this decline has hit alcoholic beverages, children’s goods and face creams hardest, and likely affects the judgment of Russians about the state of the economy even more than widely reported inflation rates.

            The Moscow newspaper cites studies which have found the assortment of goods in Russian stores has fallen 15 to 20 percent overall since the beginning of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine in February 2022 and points to a variety of factors at work (kommersant.ru/doc/8039527 and ehorussia.com/new/node/33376).

            A major one is that rents are rising and stores are on average reduce their size and thus have less room for variety, but other factors undoubtedly include the impact of sanctions and the decline in the ruble exchange rate against other currencies.  But whatever the cause, Russians now have less choice and face higher prices than when Putin began his war.