The personnel shortage at enterprises has reached 50%
Enterprises in the baking industry of the Sverdlovsk region are preparing for a sharp rise in prices and are reducing the range of products. Market participants consider the current situation to be a consequence of the general increase in production costs and an acute shortage of personnel in the industry and point to the current lack of effective support instruments from the state. Small business companies, including those that supplied products to remote settlements in the region, declare their readiness to close production in the coming months. The disastrous situation in the industry is also pointed out by municipal administrations, in particular in Krasnoturinsk, whose bakery provides its products to a number of northern territories of the Sverdlovsk region, as well as settlements in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. It will be mainly large and medium-sized companies with a safety net that will survive the next industry crisis, and monopolists will strengthen their presence in the market, industrialists believe. Representatives of the deputy corps, behind statements about the plight of the sector, see the possibility of collusion when prices rise and point to the need to draw the attention of the Federal Antimonopoly Service to what is happening.
Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Krasnoturinsky Bread Factory” is preparing for privatization. However, it will be extremely difficult to find people willing to buy a company for further development on the market, industry participants believe.
The head of the municipality also admits the problems of the bakery Alexander Ustinov. According to him, without investment in the coming years, the enterprise will not be able to survive and will probably close, giving way to SMAK’s niche on grocery shelves.
According to the Krasnoturinsky Bread Factory, the geography of its supplies, in addition to the city of presence, covered Severouralsk, Karpinsk, Volchansk, Ivdel, Pelym, Yugorsk, Sovetsky, the villages of Ous, Taezhny and Pionersky. The company has suffered losses for 3 years in a row; in 2024, with revenue of 203 million, the net loss was 4 million. The situation of the plant, according to officials, is due, among other things, to the lack of programs to support local producers.
The Legislative Assembly of the region, however, does not agree with this assessment. Deputies of the relevant committee remind that funds can be raised through programs to support small and medium-sized businesses. Market participants themselves note that such measures are not used both because of high lending rates and compliance with requirements for recipients of government funds, in particular, maintaining a constant staffing level.
Turnover and staff shortages have already brought some enterprises to the brink of closure.
In the current situation, Tagilkhleb, which had previously reduced its distribution network, has reduced the range of products. First of all, it was about abandoning the production of buns and cookies, which require more manual labor compared to other types of products. The same trend is pointed out in Rezh-Khleb.
“The situation is difficult, costs are constantly growing. We have already raised prices several times. Last year alone, wages were raised by 67%, and this year by another 35%. But there are still not enough people. Now many enterprises in the industry simply cannot produce what trade requires,” notes the co-owner of Rezh-Khleb. Alexey Potapenko.
Enterprises are preparing for a forced increase in prices for products, including the socially significant varieties of bread “Chusovskoy” and “Krestyansky”. Thus, at Tagilkhleb they estimate the prospects for an increase in product prices by 10-18% from October of this year. As noted by a member of the Committee on Agrarian Policy of the Legislative Assembly of the region Vyacheslav Wegnera price increase of 15-20% is actively discussed by market participants, but requires strict control by antimonopoly authorities due to the likelihood of collusion.
“It is necessary to analyze the real increase in costs: for resources, transportation. For example, if a year ago grain was priced at 20 rubles per kilogram, now it is 12 rubles. The cost structure has also changed. If earlier flour accounted for 70% of the cost, now high-tech enterprises, for example, SMAK, account for 17%,” notes the deputy of the Legislative Assembly.
Prices and provision of socially significant varieties of bread are under special control by antimonopoly authorities and authorities. In this part, manufacturers believe, the increase will likely be contained, and financial costs will be offset by other types of products.
