"Food prices edged up 0.3% in the first three weeks of April – this is the same price increase we had in the same period last year," Viktor Zubkov said in his opening statement.

Members of the commission shared the view that retail prices had stabilised due to the government's timely efforts with a package of measures, including the ban on grain exports, the temporary lowering of import duties on some types of farm products (grain, vegetables and sugar), a reduction in rail transportation rates for grain, and the sale of grain from the Intervention Inventory at a region's request and also on the grain exchange.

The commission continued monitoring food prices in various regions across Russia. The head of the Komi Republic Vyacheslav Gaizer, Governor of the Tambov Region Oleg Betin and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bashkortostan Azamat Ilimbetov talked about their efforts to stabilise food markets in their respective regions. At the end of the discussion the commission recommended the leadership of the Republic of Bashkortostan and that of the Tambov Region take additional steps to develop their farm product processing and delivery infrastructure and also retail trade infrastructure, primarily open-air markets and fairs on the weekends. With due account of the specifics of the local environment and climate, they also recommended that the Komi Republic pursue more inter-regional relations to get around local weather conditions and provide local markets with domestic seasonal fruit and vegetables.

The commission also approved a package of measures to support livestock farming, including customs and rate regulation, calling them effective and well-balanced. As a result, by contrast with food prices, which grew 4.8% in the first quarter of 2011, the price of pork increased only 1.9% while the price of poultry slipped 0.6%. In the commission's view, the government resolution to allocate 5 billion roubles to purchase fodder for cattle and 9 billion roubles to support pig breeding and poultry farming will help stabilise the meat market.

At the end of the meeting, the members of the commission discussed the trading of Intervention Inventory grain on the grain exchange. The members of the commission were unanimous that the sale of grain on the exchange and the sale of the Intervention Inventory's feed grain to regions had played a key role in containing food price inflation. The latter was facilitated by a 5% to 25% drop in grain prices and the emergence of benchmark prices which helped strike a balance between the interests of producers and consumers.