Serbian Minister of Trade Rasim Ljajić said today that the Government will not allow the price of bread “Sava”, which costs 46 RSD, to go up.

Following a warning from the Bakers’ Union of Serbia that, due to the rise in wheat prices, the price of bread “Sava” could be increased to 49 RSD in the coming days, Ljajić told Beta that there is no economic justification for that. “The Serbian Government will extend the provision, which limits the price of bread “Sava” to 46 RSD, and which expires at the end of January for another six months”, said Ljajić.

He added that the price of wheat in Serbia is unjustifiably high, because this year’s crop was good.
According to him, in the last couple of days, the price of wheat on the Commodity Exchange of Serbia was increased to about 23 RSD because the big companies have stocked up on supplies and now they are dictating the price of what on the stock exchange.

At the same time, he added that the price of wheat on the stock exchange in Budapest, expressed in our national currency is 19.57 RSD, 19.58 RSD in Chicago, and 21.76 RSD in Paris.

In case wheat does not become cheaper, or if its price increases, which would affect the price of bread, the Government of Serbia, according to Ljajić, has two options – to sell wheat from the commodity reserves on the stock exchange, as was done last year, or to abolish tariffs on imports of wheat, in order to stabilize the market.