The population should not fear a sudden increase in prices, as the authorities “are controlling the situation”, claims the spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitri Peskov. Asked whether the Kremlin is concerned about a possible increase in predicted inflation, Peskov responded that “there are no such fears for now”.
“The Central Bank is monitoring the situation and taking the measures it deems necessary to maintain macroeconomic stability. So far, this has been possible. As for the increase in prices, the government is primarily the one monitoring these processes. They are being analyzed,” he emphasized.
At the beginning of 2026, Rosstat recorded a sharp acceleration in inflation: from January 1-12, the consumer price index increased by 1.26% – more than the entire month of January last year (1.23%) and three times more than in November (0.42%). This increase is the largest since March 2022, the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, when inflation was advancing by 1-2% per week.
The Ministry of Economy explained this trend by the increase in VAT from 20% to 22%. According to the institution, as a result of this measure, non-food goods have increased on average by 0.74%, food products by 1.4%, and services by 1.8%.
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