RUSSIAN retailers will limit sales of essential foodstuffs to limit black market speculation and ensure affordability, said the government today, as sanctions imposed over Moscow’s military incursion into Ukraine begin to bite.

The Trade and Industry Ministry over the weekend said there have been cases where essential foodstuffs have been purchased “in a volume clearly larger than necessary for private consumption (up to several tonnes) for subsequent resale”.

Trade organisations representing retailers proposed retailers be allowed to limit the volume of specific goods sold to individuals at any one time.

“The Trade and Industry Ministry and Agriculture Ministry support the initiative of trade organisations,” the Trade Ministry said in a statement, adding that the organisations themselves will work out the policy.

Essential goods, whose prices are subject to state controls, include bread, rice, flour, eggs and selected meats and dairy products among others.

Moscow has been hit with a damaging package of cultural and financial penalties by Western countries since the Kremlin initiated what it called “a special military operation” in neighbouring Ukraine on February 24.

The central bank in recent days has taken unprecedented measures, including capital controls, to shore up the struggling economy and ruble.

The tanking ruble has revived unpleasant memories of financial instability of the 1990s, when millions of Russians saw their savings evaporate under the effect of a devaluating currency and soaring inflation. – AFP, March 6, 2022.