Bread producers have worked at a loss after the tariffs on energy resources were raised as these caused the prices of raw material to go up. Therefore, the prices of baked goods must be increased by 12-15%, economic director of the bakery complex “Franzeluta” Angela Sheremet said in a program on Agro TV Moldova channel, IPN reports.

Angela Sheremet noted that “Franzeluta” must raise the prices by 15% so as not to go bankrupt and to cover its production costs. “The costs of making bread increased, especially owing to the rise in the price of flour. The energy resources grew dealer and also affected the production costs. The prices of such raw material as oil and yeast increased. The packing costs also rose. “Franzeluta” didn’t raise the prices of baked goods and this leads to higher losses,” she stated.

The commercial director also said that the prices of the products of “Franzeluta” will remain unchanged by this yearend. “We will use the internal reserves. But the company continues to sustain losses,” she stated, adding that the losses on bread making during the last 11 months came to 15 million lei.

Mihai Suvac, division head at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, in the same program said that profitability is needed on any product. “If bread is made using old equipment that consumes a lot of energy, the company suffers losses and needs to purchase new equipment. But how to purchase it if no profit is made? I would say that the bakeries are between hammer and anvil. They survive, but it’s not known for how long they will yet resist,” he stated.

As to the wheat harvest, Mihai Suvac said this year it was by 15% lower than last year, when there was a record crop. This year there were harvested 925,000 tonnes of wheat, 60% of which was food wheat. There are 520,000 tonnes of wheat in the country at a time when the internal needs can be satisfied with about 350,000 tonnes. Thus, there is enough wheat on the home market.