Price Inflation in Russia

On the heels of my report that a Russain economist told me that price inflation in Russia was near 50%, Bloomberg just reported:

[In Russia], food prices rose 21 percent in January from last year, with sugar jumping 68 percent. Grains and legumes saw a 45 percent spike, while fruit and vegetable prices climbed 41 percent. Luckily, alcohol inflation has tracked at a relatively tamer 14 percent.

Note: I believe the lower alcohol price inflation is only because of price controls in the sector, which suggests that under-the-table alcohol sales are going on that aren't being picked up by official statistics.

   -RW