OREANDA-NEWS. December 1, 2011. Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the government to halt the accelerating growth in foodstuff prices, Lukashenko’s press-service reports.

“Our strategy should aim at suppressing this odd price formation by December,” Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko blamed the growth in foodstuff prices on retailers, who secretly agree on the price on commodities and get away with it, as there is no antitrust legislation in Belarus.

Belarus’ consumer price index grew 88.7% in Jan-Oct 2011, while foodstuff prices rose 103.6% over the ten-month period.