X5 Retail Group, the country's biggest grocer, said Friday that it was slashing food prices after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scolded its bosses during a surprise visit to one of its stores.

On Wednesday, he halted his motorcade outside an X5-owned Perekryostok supermarket near the White House and scolded executives for charging too much for sausages and meat in front of astounded shoppers.

X5, which also owns the Pyatyorchka and Karusel brands, said in a statement titled "Vladimir Putin Chose Perekryostok" that the company was glad he visited.

The statement also announced a "grand sale" with discounts of 30 percent to 80 percent on more than 3,000 goods in its Perekryostok stores.

"We fully share the position of the head of the government about the necessity of forming a civilized consumer market," X5 chief executive Lev Khasis said in the statement.

Khasis said the company agreed that a balance between suppliers and retailers had to be reached and that the needs of consumers should be fully taken into account.

X5, which had net sales of $8.4 billion last year, is 47.9 percent owned by Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group.

The grocer has a market capitalization of $3.9 billion, and its London-traded shares finished up 2 percent on Friday.(Reuters, MT)