In our country, the prices of basic foodstuffs have been skyrocketing for months. And new corrections are constantly being announced. Now, according to some announcements, there could be bread as well. Otherwise, the weight of this food decreases over the months, while the price increases. Producers from Seberija state that the price of one burek (meat pie) in the bakery is equal to the price of 20 kilograms of wheat. Even according to these parameters, the price should not rise, it could even decrease. On the other hand, the bakery sector is clear: there is nothing to lower prices.
The prices of wheat and flour on the market are significantly lower compared to the previous period, and, according to the producers, it would be expected that there would be a decrease in the prices of bakery products. The millers are of the same opinion. However, in the bakery sector, they claim that there will be no reduction in the prices of bakery products, and whether there will be an increase in prices – for now, it is not certain.
“We will try, as much as we can, to maintain the price of bakery products at this level”, says Radenko Pelemiš, president of the Association of Bakers of the Bijeljina region.
Bakers take the exam already in the spring. The correction of prices depends, they say, on the workforce and the increase of the minimum wage. Producers do not agree with that, stating that the real cost price of bread – considering the cost price of wheat – should be half a mark.
“In the whole story, producers who produce flour have the least. The biggest earner is the bakery. You cannot understand that one burek costs 20 kg of wheat”, says Boško Radić, president of the Sebmeria Village Producers’ Association.
“There is no reason for bread to become more expensive, but in the end it will all end up in the pockets of citizens,” says Savo Bakajlić, president of the Association of Agricultural Associations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dependent in all segments of agriculture, Bosnia and Herzegovina relies heavily on imports. Cereals lead the way.
“We have insufficient wheat production in the previous year. All this will lead to a shortfall on the domestic market, which will be compensated by imports from abroad, and those products will certainly be at a high level”, explains economic analyst prof. Milenko Stanic.
The shortage is not threatening yet, the millers told us, who do not hide that they have filled the silos with imported wheat. Mostly from Serbia and Hungary, where they import goods at low prices from the old commodity reserves of neighboring countries. Due to the lack of domestic production, which, as analysts warn, is suffocated by bad agrarian policy, uncontrolled imports, and the lack of stocks – it is not even possible to dictate the price.
“We don’t have any possibility to stop inflation, because we don’t have our own production, and we don’t have commodity reserves with which to intervene,” emphasizes the economic analyst prof. Ph.D. Aleksa Milojević.
“We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, whether goods from imports or countries where grains are so cheap will be able to arrive, and what condition they will be in,” warns agricultural producer Mika Zekić.
Due to extremely expensive production, much smaller areas were sown under wheat this year, however – judging by the current state of the crop – a good yield could be expected. But all that, say the exasperated farmers, is of no great importance – because at harvest time, all the effort goes down the drain. And the prices, they say, are formed like this:
“One year, the parameters are hectoliter – that’s the quality of the wheat, and protein and gluten are not important at all. And if next year it happens to be a good hectoliter, then their parameters are gluten and protein. So, every year in the purchase, the parameters are determined as they see fit”, explains the president of the Sebmeria Village Producers’ Association, Boško Radić.
Farmers have asked for protection of domestic production from the authorities many times. Cessation of imports at harvest time until all domestic crops are bought, as well as price control. To date, they have not met with understanding or support. Therefore, they say, there are fewer of them. The production of bread grain, as a strategic crop, has become unprofitable, Federalna writes.
