The humble cucumber, a staple in Russian salads and meals, has become the latest everyday item to see its price dramatically surge, sparking widespread consumer anger and prompting swift political intervention to quell popular discontent during a time of war.
Official statistics reveal that the cost of cucumbers has doubled since December, now averaging just over 300 roubles (£2.91) per kilogram.
Social media platforms have been flooded with images showing prices sometimes two or three times higher than this average.
This sharp increase has prompted a swift response from politicians, including those from the ruling United Russia party, who face parliamentary elections later this year.
Under pressure, the anti-monopoly regulator has written to producers and retailers, demanding explanations for the sudden price hikes.
Sergei Mironov, parliamentary leader of the Just Russia party, commented on the situation, stating: “This winter, a new ‘delicacy’ has appeared in our shops – cucumbers.”
He also highlighted the Ministry of Agriculture’s explanation, which attributed the sharp cucumber price hikes to seasonality.
“They used the same explanation for last year’s ‘golden’ potatoes, and now it’s ‘gilded’ cucumbers,” Mironov added, a former paratrooper turned politician who often highlights sensitive issues which are angering voters on the ground across the world’s largest country.
“What are people supposed to do? Just accept that they can’t afford the most basic foods?” he asked.
Producers have reassured consumers that prices for cucumbers are likely to ease next month when the weather gets warmer. Authorities have resolved similar price issues for other foods in the past, and there are no signs that people’s grumbling about the price rises – amplified by social media – poses a threat to social stability.
But the sudden cucumber price hike coincides with an increase in overall prices of 2.1 per cent since the start of the year – in part as a result of an increase in value-added tax – and comes as people fret about rising costs at a time when Russia’s economy is slowing after four years of war in Ukraine.
With the central bank forecasting annual inflation of up to 5.5 per cent this year, people are also complaining about rising utility bills, petrol costs, supermarket prices and restaurant bills.
With cucumber prices now exceeding those of imported fruit like bananas, some supermarkets in Siberia are limiting the quantity that any one shopper can buy and one of Russia’s best-selling newspapers has given its readers seeds to grow their own at home.
Mironov’s party and the communist party, both of which have seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament – have suggested that the government cap the mark-up retailers can charge on basic foodstuffs.
