The Federation Council chairperson Valentina Matvienko directed Liliya Gumerova, head of the Committee on Science, Education and Culture, to draft a formal inquiry to the Federal Antimonopoly Service about the sharp growth in textbook prices and the apparent monopoly of the Prosveshchenie publishing house. This directive was announced during a Federation Council session, with the agency cited by TASS. [Source: TASS]
Matvienko asked Gumerova to prepare a request to the FAS aimed at understanding the foundations for the drastic price increases in textbooks by this publisher. The question was posed plainly: why does one publisher dominate the market for printing schoolbooks, and could this situation be driving up costs for schools and regional budgets? [Source: TASS]
The speaker in the upper house questioned whether a lack of healthy competition was allowing a monopoly to take root in the textbook market. The result, in the view of the speaker, is higher prices and greater financial pressure on regional education budgets. Matvienko pointed out that textbook shortages have already appeared across many regions of Russia. [Source: TASS]
In addition to addressing the central authorities, the senator urged the leaders of the new constituent regions to examine the situation with schoolbooks locally. The aim is to ensure that students in all newly formed federal units have reliable access to essential educational materials. The Federation Council chair stressed that concrete, practical assistance should be provided to these regions so that every school has the textbooks it needs. [Source: TASS]
Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that President Vladimir Putin continues to monitor price movements and discusses these concerns regularly with the government and the Council of Ministers. This ongoing oversight underscores the administration’s commitment to stability in education costs. [Source: TASS]
Earlier reports indicated that changes would be implemented in Russian history textbooks, signaling a broader effort to update educational content and ensure alignment with current policy goals. [Source: TASS]