Russia continues to grapple with a crisis over egg prices with the massive hikes sparking the attempted assassination of a poultry farm boss.
The shooting reportedly took place in the Voronezh region where Gennady Shiryaev, the 59-year-old director of the Tretyakov Poultry Farm, the largest in western Voronezh, was driving home when an unidentified assailant fired two shots at his car.
Shiryaev later told Russian news outlet Kommersant reporters that he was unharmed, saying: “There were two shots, it didn’t hit me.”
Russia is facing an unprecedented increase in egg prices fueled by high inflation and Western sanctions imposed in response to Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), egg prices in Russia increased by 40.29 percent year on year in November.
The significant price increases have resulted in amusing discussions about egg scarcity going viral on TikTok in Russia.
On December 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged and apologised for the increase in egg prices, attributing it to a “failure in the government’s work.”
Rosselhoznadzor, Russia’s federal veterinary watchdog, recently approved the import of Turkish eggs.
An inquiry has been launched into the occurrence. A day before the attack, Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service commenced a case against Shiryaev’s poultry farm and three other local producers for a significant hike in egg prices in October.
The escalation in egg prices can be attributed in part to the increased costs of chicken feed, antibiotics, and feed.
Before the conflict in Ukraine, these components were predominantly imported from Europe.
