Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin-backed frontrunner of the Russian presidential polls, has declared war on supermarket chains saying they were to blame for the fact that billions of dollars invested by the Kremlin in the agricultural sector have failed to translate into cheaper and better food for Russians.

“They are taking such high bribes for selling agricultural products in their shops that domestic producers of milk and cheese find it pointless to sell,” he said on a campaign trip on Saturday to a farm outside his home town of St Petersburg. “As a result people, forced to drink powder milk, suffer.”

“We will take them to task,” Medvedev promised after visiting a farm near his and President Vladimir Putin’s home town of St Petersburg, on Saturday adding that the government will take prices under tough control.

Food prices, which have started growing especially fast last year, has turned into a major political factor ahead of March 2 polls. Official inflation hit nearly 12 percent in 2007, two percentage points higher than was initially planned, but anyone who goes to Russian shops was sure to notice that the real figure is much higher.

Worries about the growing cost of a food basket has topped in the latest opinion polls traditional favourites — the Russians’ concerns about security and jobs.

The food prices issue is not fatal for Medvedev, whose ratings soared to over 60 percent after popular President backed him as a preferred successor in December.

But it could sour his image of a successful manager, who has for over two years national priority projects launched to translate swelling budget revenues into better education, housing, health services and agriculture.

“Price rises are Medvedev’s main priority project,” said an official campaign slogan of the Communist Party, whose leader Gennady Zyuganov gears to stand against Medvedev in the presidential election. (http://kprf.ru/actions/54520.html  )

Since the Soviet times, the agricultural sector has been a black hole where state funds disappeared for decades without producing any visible effect. Things went even worse in the first post-Soviet decade, when the outdated Soviet-era agricultural sector collapsed completely.

The situation has considerably improved under Putin, when the state backed by strong revenues from oil and gas export managed to allocate funds for the agricultural sector.

As a part of the priority projects, the state has pumped over 152 billion roubles ($6 billion) in agriculture in 2006-07 as credits for domestic producers.

“We have managed to achieve some progress in the past two years,” Medvedev said during a meeting with regional officials.

But the soaring prices, which force the majority of Russians to tighten their belts, sours the rosy picture.

The potential effect of growing food prices may be even stronger now that Medvedev has clearly focused his election campaign on promises to make Russia’s future course more oriented towards ensuring the people’s well-being.

He has already promised to review the system of pension to end the current situation when old people are left with less than $100 a month after retirement and improve the environment protection.