Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has put the spotlight firmly on pricing as discussions over the government’s draft retail law continue.

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Last week, Putin visited a Moscow-based Perekrestok supermarket operated by Russia’s largest retail group, X5 Retail Group.


According to X5, in the televised inspection Putin “spoke appreciatively” of the store’s layout and assortment.


As cited on the Prime Minister’s official website, the store offers “an abundant choice of products no different from offerings of similar stores in developed economies”.


The Prime Minister also paid “particular attention” to pricing on “socially important goods”.

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X5 has embarked on a price-cut campaign and already operates a “lowest price” concept for basic staples, with the aim of being the cheapest in the market for staples, which account for 40% of sales and 20% of the retailer’s product assortment.


A spokesperson for the company said that this campaign had “no relation” to the political pressure the Russian retail sector has come under to keep prices down.


“X5 is very supportive of this approach and has been aggressively pursuing price leadership in the past years. Its “close-to-the-customer” policy provides the most attractive prices in the market across all three formats, and Perekrestok is widely known for offering the best value for money among supermarkets,” the company said.


The company emphasised that 350 socially important items at Perekrestok are currently sold with a mark-up on our purchase price of below 5%, out of which 150 items are sold at the purchase price.

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