AKIPRESS.COM - The Uzbek State Committee for Privatization, Demonopolization and Competition made an official statement on the reasons for arising artificial shortage and subsequent price hike of sugar in the country.

Since June, excitement arose on the purchase of sugar in Tashkent and a number of regions of Uzbekistan, which led to unjustified increase in prices for this product.

The price of one kilogram of sugar has increased from 2,800 sum to 6,000 sum ($1.22-2.61) in some outlets over this period. A huge queue was lined up for sugar in large shopping centers, where it is sold at 3,200 sum ($1.39) per kilogram, however, while buying sugar consumers were obligated to buy other foodstuffs.

The reason for this was the “elementary speculative activities aimed at creating artificial shortage on the product, including, possibly, through concerted actions and collusion between market participants as of resellers and retail outlets,” the State Committee explained.

The analysis conducted by the committee showed that “today there are no objective factors that could adversely affect the availability of sugar in the country.”

In January-June 2014, sugar production in Uzbekistan increased by 14.7% compared to the same period in 2013, the volume of putting up sugar on exchange trading increased by 4.7%, which fully meet the demand for sugar of both population during the canning berry fruit products and industrial consumers.

In order to stabilize the market and eliminate speculation in the Uzbek sugar market, the Government envisages the introduction of temporary establishment of maximum retail prices, in accordance with which the price of sugar should not exceed 3,200 sum per kilogram throughout the retail network.