The EEC Council exempted Russia from import customs duties on chicken eggs from January 1 to June 30, allowing for the duty-free import of 1.2 billion eggs. Due to increased consumer demand and decreased production, there has been a noticeable increase in the price of eggs in Russia. The exemption from duties will help keep egg prices comparable to Russian ones and Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev expects prices to begin to decline in 2-3 weeks due to the supply of eggs from Turkey.