Store manager narrowly avoids jail for overpricing

January 16, BPN. The Lida District Court sentenced a local store manager to a two-year suspended sentence with one-years probation for overpricing and causing some 10 rubels ($3.8) worth of damage to customers, Lidskaya Gazeta reported on January 15.

The court also banned her from holding management positions. 

The news comes as the National Statistics Committee said consumer prices for goods and services rose by 12.8 percent in 2022.

In a bid to curb galloping inflation, Alaksandr Łukašenka signed a directive to freeze consumer prices on October 6. He demanded that any price increases should be authorized by the state. On October 10, he said the freeze was only a short-term measure.

On October 19, the government introduced profit margin caps to control prices for 370 items, removing some of them from the list a week later.