In Ukraine, bread prices may increase by 15-20% in the near future due to serious supply problems and rising costs of basic ingredients. Yuriy Duchenko, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers and director of the Kyiv Bread company, said this, businessua.com reports.

According to Duchenko, if bread prices do not rise by the indicated 15-20%, this may lead to serious interruptions in the supply of bread throughout the country. He notes that some bakeries are already working on the verge of closure, and several of them have switched to a single-shift work schedule due to financial difficulties.

The main reason for the price increase is the sharp rise in flour prices. If back in April the price of a ton of flour was 10,000 hryvnias, now it has risen to 15,000 hryvnias. A further increase to 16-16.2 thousand hryvnias per ton is expected by November.

Duchenko also points out that flour prices have increased by 50% in the last few months, and this continues to affect the cost of bread, where flour makes up about 40% of the cost. In addition, other ingredients such as sugar and sunflower oil have also risen in price by more than 20% since the beginning of the year.

Costs are increasing not only for raw materials, but also for electricity, logistics, and packaging materials. These factors contribute to an overall increase in bread production costs, forcing bakeries to raise prices to remain financially sustainable.

Thus, in the conditions of rising costs and instability of the supply of bread, Ukrainians may soon face a significant increase in prices for this basic food product.