Siberian city gives out free bread amid price hike for groceries

Every Saturday and on federal holidays, pensioners in the Siberian city of Tomsk will be given free bread, according to the local mayor’s office, which says it's reached an agreement with a local bread producer.

Two shops belonging to the bread producer will begin handing out bread on March 7. The program will begin with the free distribution of 30 loaves of white bread, but the selection of free bread and the number of distribution points will grow with time.

“On holidays and every Saturday, the bread shops' clerks will hand out white bread to pensioners,” announced the mayor's press office.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service, prices of groceries in Russia grew by an average of 3.6 percent between January and February. The price hike hit bread products, which grew by an average of 2.6 percent throughout the country.

By late February, the price of a basket of goods for one month on average across Russia amounted to about 3,730 rubles ($63), which is 3.8 percent higher than the previous month and 12.4 percent higher than prices at the end of December 2014.