Residents of Chechnya and Dagestan report price growth on the eve of Eid ul-Fitr

A substantial increase in food prices before the end of the fasting month of Ramadan annoys residents of Chechnya and Dagestan. The authorities say that they are unable to influence the situation; and the local clergy try – with little success, however, – to change the situation by appealing to the norms of Islam.

In 2012, the holiday named in Russia "Uraza Bairam" (Eid ul-Fitr is the Turkic name, which in Arabic means "fast breaking holiday") begins on August 19 and lasts for three days. The Eid ul-Fitr concludes the Ramadan, when Muslims are fasting – they do not eat or drink from dawn to dusk. In honour of the holiday they lay the table, receive guests and visit relatives and friends.

"Although we can't speak about any sharp rise in prices, in certain cases they went up by 25-30 percent, when compared with the figures at the end of Ramadan in 2011," said a source in the Department of "Rosprirodnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Nature Supervision) for Chechnya.

"The marketplaces are all in hype, because people store food for the period of Eid ul-Fitr," said a local resident Aimani N.

A resident of Dagestan Jamilya Khalidova complains that she will have to spend most of the salary on preparation for the holiday. "Prices are increased every year for the holidays. I'll spend my whole monthly salary, 9500 roubles, on foodstuffs. And I still need to buy gifts for guests," said Khalidova.

The press service of the Dagestani Department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (DFAS) of the Russian Federation has noted that the increase in prices for the holiday took place in almost all the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD). "The cause of higher prices for food in anticipation of the holiday of Eid ul-Fitr is in increased demand for food, not in price fixing plot," said a source from the DFAS.