Russia’s Egg Crisis is Spiraling Out of Control

Russia’s egg crisis spiraled out of control this week after an attempt was made on the life of the head of a poultry farm in the Voronezh region, with prices for the staple food item continuing to climb.

Gennady Shiryaev, the 59-year-old head of the Tretyakov Poultry Farm, the largest in the western Voronezh region, was driving home when an unknown person fired two shots at his car. Shiryaev told Russian news outlet Kommersant that he wasn’t injured in the assassination attempt. “There were two shots, it didn’t hit me,” Shiryaev said.

Russia has seen an unprecedented surge in egg prices this year against a backdrop of high inflation and sanctions imposed by the West in response to President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In November, egg prices rose by 40.29 percent year-on-year, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). The price increases have caused jokes about the scarcity of eggs to go viral on TikTok in Russia.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

An investigation has been opened into the incident. A day before it happened, Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service initiated a case against Shiryaev’s poultry farm—and three other local producers—for sharply increasing egg prices in October.

The price surges of eggs have been partly caused by the rising costs of chicken feed antibiotics and feed, which, prior to the war in Ukraine, were largely imported from Europe.

Newsweek previously found that shortages of items in Russia are causing price hikes nationwide.

In a rare apology from the Russian president, Putin said during his end-of-year press conference that insufficient imports and demand are to blame for the hiked prices.

“I’m sorry about this problem. This is a setback in the government’s work,” Putin said on December 14. “I promise that the situation will be corrected in the near future.”

However, prices of the food item have continued to rise after Putin’s apology.

Russia’s Economic Ministry has also sought to halt egg prices from increasing further, saying on December 13 that the country’s imports of 1.2 billion eggs from “friendly countries” will be exempt from duty for the first six months of 2024.

“The decision will help in the short term to balance the domestic market of eggs and ensure supply growth,” the ministry said.

Muscovites told news agency AFP in an article published on December 12 that they have experienced even steeper price increases than what has been reported by Rosstat.

“Before, I used to buy eggs for 70 rubles ($0.78) a dozen. Now they cost between 130 and 140 rubles ($1.45 to $1.56)—twice as much,” Ilia Zaroubine, a 21-year-old student, said.

“I’m shocked! (…) It’s horrible what’s happening with the prices. Not just for eggs, but for all products,” said Elizaveta Chalaïevskaïa, a 76-year-old pensioner.

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