Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 25
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan has the lowest bread prices in Central Asia, Uzbek media reported citing Chief Economist of the Uzdonmahsulot state company Erkin Esanov.
According to him, 1050 soums is a relatively low price, as in neighboring countries a loaf of bread costs over 2500 soums.
“Prices are determined on the [commodity] exchange. The rate will be regulated depending on Kazakh flour of the first grade. If the flour costs 2,800 soums, the price for bread will vary around 2,200 soums. At the same time, it is impossible to compare confectionery products with bread and put them on the exchange at the same price, as their cost and expenses are very different,” Akramjon Azizov, head of the department for strategic planning and business development of Uzdonmahsulot, said.
According to Azizov, the company is now actively working on improving the quality of bakery products, focusing on vitamins and mineral-rich production.
“Customers often put hot bread in a cellophane bag, which creates good environment for development of spore-forming potato bacillus. I would like to advise consumers to buy a daily rate of molded bread and wrap it in a package only after it has cooled down in order to avoid such problems,” expert Saodat Kudratova said.
The company also pays special attention to the development of new types of grain, adapted to the climate of Uzbekistan.
“We have 138 national standards and we plan to further expand the range. We also use 22 international standards. We are studying development of a new type of grain, dry starter cultures and much more to improve the quality of our products,” Diloram Gafurova, head of the research and production center of Uzdonmahsulot, said.
Uzdonmahsulot currently has 44 enterprises and 25 branches in its structure. In 2013-2018, 103 investment projects worth $80.9 million were implemented in the field of bread production.
(8079.28 soums = 1 USD on Sept. 25)
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