X5 Retail is slashing prices after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scolded its bosses on a visit to one of its Perekryostok supermarkets.

Putin said the retailer, which is Russia’s biggest grocer, was charging too much for sausages and meat in front of astounded shoppers. X5 has since announced a “grand Sale”, with discounts of 30 to 80 per cent on more than 3,000 products.

“We fully share the position of [Putin] about the necessity of forming a civilised consumer market,” said X5 chief executive Lev Khasis.

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