VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2020) A hotline is being opened in Russia's Primorsky Territory in order to control the increase in prices on certain goods which has occurred since Russia closed its border with China amid the spread of the new coronavirus, local authorities report.
"Traditionally, our greenhouses cannot ensure a big enough volume of production ... About 10-15 percent of our demand [for vegetables] is covered by the greenhouses, and 60-65 percent - by China. Since the border was closed for some time for cargo, there was a spike in tomato and cucumber prices at some locations," the deputy director of the regional Department of Licensing and Trade, Elena Koval, said.
According to Koval, a hotline is being opened so that Primorsky Territory residents can provide the local authorities with information on prices at various locations.
"We will analyze the information and ... will carry out checks. There are currently no grounds for increasing prices," Koval said, explaining that the Russian-Chinese border is now open for cargo transport.
At the end of January, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to close the country's Far Eastern border to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus to Russia. The virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December and has since spread to other countries, including the United States.
So far, Russia has registered two coronavirus cases. Overall, over 20,000 novel coronavirus cases have been reported in China. More than 400 people have died from the disease, almost all of them in China.
