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Crimean Prime Minister Ready to Coerce Greedy Retailers

Faced with spiraling price inflation, Crimean Prime Minster Sergei Aksyonov threatened price-hiking retailers on the peninsula with "coercive measures" and canceled licenses.

Addressing "all these who do not understand the easy way," at a meeting of the Crimean Council of Ministers on Monday, Aksyonov was quoted by Interfax as saying "there will be coercive measures, right up to license removals. We do not plan to negotiate with any speculators or retailers who extort money from people."

Since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, the price of many goods has doubled, the head of Crimea's Trade Union Federation, Vladimir Klychnikov, told Interfax.

Aksyonov said retailers of food and medicines would be first in line for authorities' attention.

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