KYIV, July 2 – From the beginning of 2021, confectionery product prices rose 15% to 20% due to higher sugar prices caused by the cartel agreement and shortages on domestic market, Head of the Association of producers of confectionery, food concentrates, starch products and coffee in Ukraine (Ukrkondprom) Oleksandr Baldyniuk said during press conferences at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

"In our industry, the rise in sugar prices has led to quite severe economic consequences, which forced us from the beginning of the year to increase the cost of our products by 15% to 20%. We got a situation when the industry reduced production by 25,000 to 26,000 tons, or UAH 1.3 billion in monetary terms," he said.