Putin's drive to tame food prices threatens grain sector

FILE PHOTO: Combines harvest wheat in a field near the village of Suvorovskaya in Stavropol Region, Russia July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

MOSCOW (Reuters) - During a televised session with ordinary Russians last month, a woman pressed President Vladimir Putin on high food prices.

Valentina Sleptsova challenged the president on why bananas from Ecuador are now cheaper in Russia than domestically-produced carrots and asked how her mother can survive on a “subsistence wage” with the cost of staples like potatoes so high, according to a recording of the annual event.