The Russian Federation’s Ministry of Industry and Trade pushed back against a proposal that would require trade points to display the cost of goods per standard unit of measurement, such as per liter or per kilogram. Local media outlets reported on the ministry’s stance, citing documents from the ministry as they described the situation to the president’s legal department.
The ministry warned that introducing per-unit pricing could trigger substantial recalculation costs for retailers, costs that would likely be passed on to consumers as higher prices. The ministry’s communication to the president’s State Legal Department described the proposal as economically burdensome and impractical in many retail contexts (attribution: Ministry of Industry and Trade, cited by News).
Officials further argued that some products would not benefit from a per-unit price framework, making the policy ineffective for those categories. The ministry specifically highlighted tea, coffee, chips, and a few other items as cases where the proposed approach would not add clarity or fairness for consumers (attribution: Ministry of Industry and Trade).
On July 22, Boris Chernyshov, Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the State Duma, spoke in Moscow about a broader campaign to reduce package sizes while keeping prices constant. The deputy’s remarks pointed to a trend in which goods are packed in smaller quantities yet priced at the same level (attribution: State Duma proceedings, July 22).
Chernyshov’s comments come after his election to the State Duma in June, during which he supported a measure requiring sellers to display the price of one kilogram on the price tag. He argued that, in recent years, some retailers have sought to sell the same amount of goods for a higher price by reducing the quantity in a package. He also noted a growing gap between what is promised on the label and what customers actually receive, pointing to milk and juice once sold in nearly full-liter containers and pasta packages reduced in size to approximately 0.4 kg (attribution: interview remarks, June elections coverage).
The conversation around price labeling and package size is part of a broader series of debates about food pricing and consumer transparency that have recurred in Russia over the summer and into autumn. Observers note that these discussions reflect ongoing tensions between protecting consumer interests and maintaining stable retail costs in a shifting market environment (attribution: market commentary, summer/autumn period).