The head of the state anti-monopoly and consumer protection service at the Economic Development Ministry, Zahid Isayev, said that the service had been monitoring bread prices and found no increase.
Isayev said that the government would act if prices did begin to rise: "The State Service is constantly monitoring prices for wheat and if a possible future increase does affect prices for flour and bread, then the appropriate bodies will take action," Isayev said.
He said that none of the major bakeries in the country had increased prices. Prices may have gone up at the small bakeries across the country but their output is so small that its effect on overall prices is negligible, Isayev said.
On 20 August, Azerbaijan's deputy agriculture minister, Aslan Aslanov, said the ministry had given additional permits for the import of 250,000 tonnes of grain. Aslanov said that Azerbaijan had sufficient grain reserves to cope with a reduced harvest.
Commentary