‘We have been faced with a number of problems in our attempts to cooperate with Sverdlovsk Region’s suppliers. They seem rather reluctant and set very high prices for their produce. For one, the local food manufacturers just don’t offer any nice prices on chicken and meat: the price of Khoroshiy Vkus starts at 280 RUR per kilo, the ex-factory price of Reftinskaya poultry plant is 102 RUR per kilo,’ the director of X5 Retail Group’s Pyaterochka chain store Ural branch Alexei Vaganov said at a meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg Viktor Konteev. The meeting was dedicated to the local retailers’ cooperation with Yekaterinburg’s food manufacturers.

‘Another problem is that the local producers are not willing to give up on intermediaries. Besides, their logistics on short shelf life products can’t be described as efficient,’ he added.