Putin strikes populist pose on food prices

FOR the second time this month, Vladimir Putin has stood up for the common man, at a carefully staged media event.

Rising food prices have emerged as a major source of concern for his government, as many Russians identify high food prices as the biggest issue facing them.

So the Russian prime minister broke off a meeting to drag retail executives and Cabinet ministers to a Moscow supermarket, where he chastised the managers for large markups.

Putin marched around the Perekryostok supermarket, pointing at food products, questioning and dressing employees down. "Why do your sausages cost 240 rubles? Do you call that normal?" Putin asked.

"But they're good quality sausages," replied Yuri Koboladze, managing director for corporate relations at X5 Retail Group, which owns the large chain.

Unimpressed, Putin moved on to the pork counter, where he railed about pork sold for more than double wholesale price.

Earlier this month, Putin staged a dressing down of Oleg Deripaska, once Russia's richest man, for failing to pay workers at one of his factories, which had been shut down.