“Our food prices have been rising for two years in the world.
There is a UN index that shows that over the past two years, food prices have increased by more than 70%, and a significant part of this increase - more than 50% - occurred in the period up to February, ”he said.
The reason for this was, obviously, not recent events, but other "tectonic events" that led not only to a rise in the price of wheat, coffee and orange juice.
Energy and metals also rose in price, Oreshkin emphasized.
“First, the Americans, reacting to the pandemic crisis, overdid it, made a mistake in macroeconomic policy, printed $6 trillion in two years, which is 40% of their money supply.
It is clear that this money spread all over the world and led to the fact that all prices actively went up, ”said the presidential adviser.
The second reason he called the energy crisis in Europe.
“Obvious mistakes with excessive investments, excessive share of renewable energy sources.
The fact that they began to focus on short-term contracts pushed up energy prices.
As a result, it led to an increase in prices for fertilizers and a decrease in their production.
It is clear that the less fertilizers in the world, the lower the yield - this is the second reason, ”Oreshkin added.
The third reason is the sanctions frenzy of the West in recent months, the presidential aide said.
“Everyone has already lost count, how many sanctions, what sanctions, why they are applied.
Already in some European countries, inflation exceeds the Russian level: in Estonia, this is more than 20% ... They are beating themselves, ”the official noted.
All such “frankly stupid actions” have very bad consequences for the whole world - a decrease in crops, a decrease in food production, which leads to irreversible consequences in terms of world hunger, Oreshkin concluded.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier reminded that the country remains a responsible participant in the global food market, and the attempts of the West to write off problems in this area as a special military operation are absolutely groundless.
The Foreign Ministry recalled that the jump in prices for agricultural products occurred back in 2020 and “is by no means the result of a special military operation.”