GRAIN MARKET OF THE ALTAI REGION: STUDIES OF PRICING PECULIARITIES
The conditions and peculiarities of pricing in the Altai Region’s grain market are analyzed. Comparative analysis of wheat price dynamics and volatility both in the Altai Region and the main grain-producing regions of Russia is emphasized. When analyzing supply and demand and pricing conditions in the Altai Region’s grain market, it is revealed that the cumulative sales volume of marketable grain in value terms makes 4% of gross regional product, and the market falls into oligopsony competition type. The analysis of the reference indices of the average monthly wheat prices in the Altai Region’s domestic market for the period of 2005-2012 made it possible to create a prospective interval estimation of the average market wheat price for December of 2013. High wheat price volatility was observed in the years with significant fall in the gross yield. Using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, it is found that there are some relationships in price dynamics in the national wheat market. Those relationships are more evident in the regions of the Siberian and Urals Federal Districts. The current mechanisms of price control in the grain market are not efficient enough to form the stable level of agricultural profitability that would ensure a sustainable growth. The main tendencies in modernizing public support for agricultural production should be aimed at introducing stimulating forms of subsidies and mechanisms of price control in agricultural market which would contribute to reducing price volatility and ensure sustainable profitability in agricultural production that would not be less than 30%.