The supply of groceries to state-run stores in Turkmenistan has seen some improvement.
Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” report that chicken drumsticks, which have just reached Ashgabat markets, are being sold without any limit at 8 manats per kilo.
Let us recall that in September Ashgabat experienced a shortage of chicken meat, with a limit of 2 kilos of drumsticks per customer.
Moreover, locally-bottled Pepsi-Cola is now available without any restrictions.
Vendors are trying to sell the beverage in packs of 12 bottles at 48 manats. These come together with crisps and chips at 2 manats more to urge customers to pay 50 manats.
Cigarettes, which had not been available since August, have been supplied again to state-run stores from 13 October. However, the cheapest cigarettes cost 30 manats per pack against the previous price of 25 manats.
State-run shops are selling local flour at 1-1,5 manats per kilo but it is reported to be of poor quality and therefore cannot qualify as premium quality.
In privately-owned retail outlets the price for flour imported from Kazakhstan has increased to 8 manats per kilo compared to 4.80 manats in March 2018.
The price for Russian flour has also gone up from 21-26 manats per a two-kilo pack in March to 39 manats in October.
In the meantime, the Ashgabat authorities have launched a new campaign to close down privately-owned shops located in residential apartment blocks.There are no supermarkets or shopping centres in many districts and consequently entrepreneurs had set up small stores in the basement of the apartment blocks or on the ground floor by making wholesale purchases of groceries at large markets.
Over the past few days commissions, made up of officials from the khyakimlik’s office, police and revenue service, have been visiting retail outlets demanding that they curtail their operations immediately. In the residential district MIR-7 alone nine similar shops were closed down in the course of a few days.
In the run-up to the Asian Games the authorities had also shut down small points of sale. After paying bribes, some owners of retail space were subsequently permitted to re-open the shops.
It should be mentioned that after the visit of IMF experts to Turkmenistan, the authorities were recommended to “liberalize business regulations, creating a level playing field, and increasing reliance on market-based measures”.