Russia to restore consumer cooperation system: minister

Russia will revive the Soviet-time system of consumer cooperation that "delivered agricultural products of the best quality at affordable prices" to the retail trade, Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexander Belyayev said in St Petersburg.

Russia will revive the Soviet-time system of consumer cooperation that "delivered agricultural products of the best quality at affordable prices" to the retail trade, Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexander Belyayev said in St Petersburg.

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The system was thoughtlessly disrupted in the years of building new Russia, he told a news conference during the 18th AgroRus-2009 international agricultural fair, on Friday.

There were no dealers in the contact between trade and producers, while currently the dealers are strong in trading operations, the minister said.

"We have examined prices of milk and dairy products. In Moscow, St Petersburg and other large cities there are really over the top," he said.

The Agriculture Ministry jointly with relevant committee of the State Duma and the Federal Council are trying to do their best to improve the situation, he said.

"We expect a real result. In any case, there will not be another hike in dairy prices," Belyayev said.

On this year's harvesting, he said that more than 5,000 farmsteads in Russia's most yielding regions were damaged by droughts.