Russian ‘egg king’ survives assassination attempt
A Russian egg magnate has survived an assassination attempt two days after the authorities started investigating him for alleged price fixing.
The attack on Gennady Shiryaev has fed into growing hysteria in Russia at the rising price of eggs, which have become so expensive that they are now being gifted as Christmas presents, and forced the Kremlin to promise to bring down prices.
Mr Shiryaev was driving his 4x4 BMW near his egg factory on Dec 27 in the central Russian region of Voronezh when he was ambushed by a gunman who fired two shots. Both shots missed Mr Shiryaev.
Police have not yet given a motive for the attack although the Mash Telegram news channel said that he was attacked by “locals who were dissatisfied with the increase in prices” of his products.
Mr Shiryaev owns the Tretyakovskaya poultry farm. Two days before his attempted murder, the authorities opened a case against him and two other egg producers for increasing the price of eggs.
Eggs in Russia have risen by more than 50 per cent in price over the past three months, angering ordinary Russians who regard them as a staple food product.
Unnerved Kremlin
The price rises have also unnerved the Kremlin less than three months before a presidential election that Vladimir Putin wants to use as a public display of support for his war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has been forced to issue statements denying egg shortages and put into action its emergency plans to buy tonnes of eggs from abroad and waive import taxes to suppress prices. It has also ordered its FSB security services to arrest anybody suspected of hoarding eggs.
Analysts have said that high energy prices and Western sanctions have made rearing hens and producing eggs expensive in Russia.
Dozens of videos of people queuing at dawn to buy cheap eggs from vans have been uploaded onto social media and in the Vologda region, a deputy in the regional parliament for the ruling United Russia party photographed himself giving cartons of eggs to his staff as presents for the traditional Orthodox New Year festivities.
