Rising food prices for Ramadan hit Chechen pensioners and public sector workers hard.

Low-income residents of Grozny, including pensioners and teachers, are struggling to find money for groceries at the start of Ramadan amid rising prices. Residents of rural areas with their own farms have an easier time providing for themselves, but prices for basic products in local stores have also increased.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, prices are rising again before Ramadan in both markets and stores, social media users pointed out in early February. They noted that the food prices published by the official Chechen newspaper do not correspond to reality. Chechen authorities' reports on food price controls have had virtually no impact on the situation in stores and markets, users noted on February 18.

76-year-old Grozny resident Tumisha lives on 25,000 rubles a month, paying more than half of that amount on utilities. “My pension is 22,000, and another 3,000 for disability. When I get those 25,000, and if I also get 500 and 1,000 ruble bills, it seems like a lot of money. But I start sorting them into piles: electricity, gas, medicine, and by the end the stack of bills becomes very thin. Gas, electricity, and water cost 15,000. A lot of money goes on medicine, which has become very expensive lately,” the pensioner complains.

An elderly woman experiences dizziness; after a fall, she spent almost a month in the hospital with a broken leg. "The doctor advised me to administer Cerebrolysin at home. One ampoule costs 2,500 rubles, but I need 10 ampoules for the treatment course, which would take my entire pension. A neighbor helped me set up the IV; she used to work as a paramedic and decided to help out as a neighbor. And the money for the medication was sent by my niece in Moscow, who cares for the ailing mother of some official," Tumisha told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

With the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast, the pensioner realized she couldn't afford food suitable for iftar. "In previous years, when my husband was alive, we fasted during Ramadan. "And now the doctors don't recommend me to fast because my illness might get worse. On the other hand, even if I decide to fast, the money left from my pension - about two thousand - is unlikely to be enough to buy more or less suitable food for breaking the fast, even during a three-day fast," she stated with regret.

The three-day fast that Groznyanka speaks of is prescribed for Muslims to atone for breaking an oath made in the name of Allah: "Fasting for three days is atonement for your oath." However, Tumisha is exempt from fasting: she falls into the category of "elderly people who find it difficult to fast due to health reasons." Five categories of Muslim believers are exempt from fasting during Ramadan.

Teachers in Chechnya also often find themselves in a situation where they simply cannot afford the necessary food for breaking the fast. "We were paid part of our salaries on the eve of Ramadan, 15,000 rubles. I immediately paid off my debts. "The day before, a former colleague of mine died. I went to his house for a tezet and gave the widow two thousand rubles, as is our custom. I had five hundred-ruble bills and some change left in my pocket. I had to go to my mother, a pensioner, to borrow three thousand rubles from her. I used the money to buy potatoes, carrots, and onions—five kilograms of each—and a bunch of herbs: parsley, dill, and cilantro," Abdullah, a teacher at one of the republic's rural schools, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the teacher, this food will be enough for his family of five (Abdullah, his wife, and three teenage children) to break their fast for several days. He noted that the federal government's promised salary increase for public sector employees starting in 2026 did not affect him.

Former university professor Umar lost his job "for seditious speech." Now, his wife, Umidat, a primary school teacher in Grozny, is the only employed member of the family.

"We're desperately short of money. A lot of it goes on my mother-in-law's medication; she has heart problems. Grocery prices have been rising since January, with some kind of creeping price increase: I buy milk, a liter for 100 rubles, and the next day the same milk in the same store costs 110 rubles, and a couple of days later, 120 rubles. Bread cost 25 rubles a loaf at the end of last year, and now it's 35 rubles. And with all these price fluctuations across all products, we're gradually getting used to this kind of price increase." "Previously, price tags were large and beautifully written, but now they write new prices sloppily with a marker pen—no time for beauty, you have to write new prices every other day," Umidat shared her observations.  

In rural areas, food prices are also rising

According to her, a third of her teacher's salary goes towards utilities. Umidat sometimes takes orders for baking cakes and other baked goods. "My colleagues know that I love baking, and they ask me to bake a cake for an event. I take orders; it's a small, but still supplemental, source of income for the family budget, but it doesn't happen often. "Therefore, we have to live in a strict austerity regime," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

For the last iftar, she prepared cornmeal dumplings and cut the boiled chicken into small portions, two pieces per four family members. To go with these dishes, she prepared a hearty beram sauce: mashed potatoes with plenty of fried onions mixed with chicken broth. "My trick is that dumplings with beram are a very tasty and filling meal; with it, you won't be reaching for a second piece of chicken," Umidat noted.

Rural residents with their own farms find it much easier to prepare food for iftar. Ruslan, who lives in a remote mountain village in the Nozhai-Yurt district, had his favorite dish, zhizhig-galnash, on his table during his last evening fast, and in the morning, before work, his daughter-in-law cooked plov. He runs a small farm: four cows, 30 sheep, chickens, and turkeys.

"We have no problems with meat or dairy products: milk, sour cream, ghee, sour cream, cheese, and cottage cheese—everything is ours. Potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables, fruits, greens, and various grains have to be bought in stores in Gudermes or at wholesale warehouses in Shali," he said.

Ruslan is also outraged that the prices for these types of products are gradually rising, and, according to his observations, they are rising in parallel with prices in the capital. “Some of my fellow countrymen believe that the price increase is the initiative of local entrepreneurs. Nothing of the sort! If there is some percentage of their fault, it is minimal at the moment, but this picture will certainly change on the eve of Markhash (the Vainakh name for the holiday marking the end of Lent). Then food prices will skyrocket; this happens every year, and I doubt this year will be an exception,” the villager believes.

Residents of the mountain villages of the Vedensky district are also observing a gradual increase in food prices. Yakhita, a resident of the small village of Khattuni, keeps cows and rams, but now that the cows are not milked, all dairy products have to be bought in stores.

"During lambing, milk cost 100 rubles a liter. A week later, the same milk cost 110 rubles, and the day after that, 120 rubles. Now, as a result of lambing, we have eight lambs, all female. They need milk, and my son went to Shali and bought a box of milk and ten bags at a wholesale store for 83 rubles each," Yakhita said.

She particularly noted the rise in the price of bread, since this product is purchased daily: its price has gradually increased from 25 rubles in November-December last year to 35 rubles today. "After all, this is the product that we buy every day, two or three loaves per person, because we have large families." "A difference of 30-40 rubles daily impacts the family budget," the woman believes.

The rise in prices was spurred by the VAT increase

Yakhita only noticed the increase in vegetable prices the other day. "Literally until the last day, vegetable prices were the same as they were at the beginning of January. I don't know about Grozny or Argun—I'm talking about what I saw at the large supermarket in the village of Makhkety, where I usually shop. As the store clerk explained to me, until recently they were selling goods purchased at the wholesale market in Pyatigorsk at the end of December and selling them at December prices. And now there are new purchases, new prices from wholesalers, and our suppliers have also raised prices. She also said that the price increase has nothing to do with the holy month of Ramadan," the villager noted.

Starting January 1, 2026, the value-added tax (VAT) rate increased from 20% to 22%, recalled an official who worked for many years in the economic department of the Grozny administration. "For those who work with the end consumer, such as cafes and stores, this means additional expenses that will lead to higher prices. Which is what has been happening since the beginning of January," she explained.

Based on data from previous years, she also predicts a significant spike in food prices on the eve of Markhash. "According to preliminary estimates, expenses will amount to 40-50 thousand rubles - plus a significant amount that will be spent on gifts for children and adults, which, according to custom, will be given to guests. This amount is almost equal to the expenses that will go towards the 'festive table,'" the official said.