Monopoly: How Much is Sugar Price in Armenia Tied to Increase in International Market Price?

The increase in the price of sugar in Armenia today is due to the sharp rise in prices in the global market, Executive Director of local supermarket chain “Star” Vahan Kerobyan told Epress.am today.

Note, the price of sugar in Yerevan shops today rose from 360–370 drams (a little over $1 USD) per kilo to 430 drams ($1.17 USD) a kilo.

“Since the cost of 1 pound [0.453 kg] of sugar in the global market in the month of July was $0.2947 USD, while in May it was $0.2184, it could be expected that importers in Armenia would raise prices,” he said.

Note, in international commodity markets, from May to July the price of sugar rose by 18.26%; however, the price of sugar had already reached record heights in January of this year — $0.2974 per pound, but the 1 kilogram of sugar in Armenia was still 330–340 drams.

Armenian MP Samvel Aleksanyan’s Alex Grig company, which has the monopoly on importing sugar in Armenia, did not raise the price of sugar in Armenia in January when there were changes in the international market price; however, when the cost of sugar in the international market dropped from February to March, the price of sugar in Armenia didn’t decrease.