Open news feed Close news feed
A A

Buckwheat Deficit in Armenia (video)

Social
hndkacavar

The prices of buckwheat have shot up in Armenia in 10 days, increasing from AMD 390 to 660 per package. Besides, one can hardly find buckwheat on shelves in small shops. “The rise in prices is explained by the cost of buckwheat in Russia and Ukraine. Armenia mainly imports buckwheat from these two countries,” Karen Chilingaryan, Chairman of Armenian Consumer's Union NGO, told A1+. He considers the increase in buckwheat prices a violation of human rights. “Since Armenia is considered to be a risky zone, economic entities raise prices in Armenia as soon as the prices of certain products go up in other countries,” he said. The State Commission for the Protection of Economic Cooperation (SCPEC) is unaware of buckwheat prices in Armenia’s stores. They say there is no monopoly on the buckwheat market therefore they have not studied it. “Any product can be imported and divided between several entrepreneurs. Then they can say that different people import that specific product but, in fact, there is only one importer. Unfortunately the problem has always existed in Armenia,” said Mr Chilingaryan. He has recently returned from Russia. There he realized that the rise in buckwheat prices was not because of its scarcity, but because of the economic crisis: people simply began buying more buckwheat.