“In this difficult economic situation, those who operate in trade, as well as some in production, should curb their economic appetite. They need to understand that the level of profit should be a bit lower,” Medvedev said during a meeting with anti-monopoly service head Igor Artemiev.
“Of course, they shouldn’t work at a loss, but attempts to get all the profit you can only imagine is considered using non-competitive methods in trade and breaches anti-monopoly legislation,” Medvedev added.
He noted that traders and suppliers which used a "primitive scheme" during the devaluation of the ruble are often to blame for the surge of prices.
"The ruble depreciated by a certain amount and [they] increased prices accordingly," Medvedev said.
Consumer prices in Russia increased by 11.4 percent in 2014, according to the Federal State Statistics Service. It is the highest rate since 2008, when consumer prices increased by 13.3 percent.
Earlier in January, Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Vedev said that Russia's inflation in 2015 will peak in March and April, topping out between 15 and 17 percent.
Russia's economy is suffering a slowdown due to a dramatic decline in oil prices and current geopolitical tensions, including Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis. The ruble has lost approximately half its value against the dollar since mid-2014.
