The principles and methods of pricing in a centralized economy are based on the fact that they are determined at the enterprise, i.e. in production, and often before the start of production. This approach inevitably leads to the fact that production costs are taken as the price base. Hence the dominance of the cost-based pricing method, which was criticized even under the conditions of a planned economy. With this approach to pricing, the market has a very weak impact on the level and dynamics of prices. IN best case scenario it records the degree of demand for a product at a price already set.

The fundamental difference between market pricing and centralized price setting is that the real process of price formation here occurs not in the sphere of production, not at the enterprise, but in the sphere of product sales, i.e. in the market, under the influence of supply and demand, commodity-money relations. The price of a product and its utility are tested by the market and are finally determined in the market.

Therefore, our ideas about the value of a product (its formation) and price as economic categories of the market are radically changing. Since only on the market does public recognition of products as goods occur, their value receives public recognition through the price mechanism only on the market.

This is fundamental theoretical position until recently, it was almost completely ignored in our economic science and pricing practice. However, even now, pricing practice is often such that the costs of producing goods are considered socially necessary long before these goods appear on the market and are recognized as goods by buyers, i.e. long before the costs of their production are publicly recognized. This was largely facilitated by the constant and significant excess of demand over supply and the monopoly of goods manufacturers in recent years. Obviously, this practice clearly contradicts modern ideas of economic theory about a market economy.

The main fundamental difference between market pricing and planned pricing is also that the initial prices for goods are determined (set) by their owners, business entities. Only in this case can the alienation of commodity producers from the results of their labor be overcome.

What is the role of the state and government bodies?

Government bodies, depending on the current economic situation, can and do regulate prices only for a limited range of goods and services.

For the vast majority of goods produced by business entities, the state also determines the general rules and principles of pricing, sometimes sets maximum levels of profitability or prices, and in this way carries out its management functions. But government agencies do not set specific prices for most goods for products manufactured by different owners.

Thus, enterprises or firms sell their goods and services, as a rule, at prices and tariffs established by them independently or on a contractual basis, and only in in some cases provided for by legislative acts, at state prices. State regulation of prices is carried out for the products of enterprises that occupy a monopoly position in the goods market, as well as for goods and services that determine the scale of prices in the economy and the social protection of certain categories of citizens.

Therefore, during the transition to a market, in a mixed (multi-structured) economy, the market pricing mechanism should not resist, but be flexibly combined with the mechanism of state regulation of prices for individual groups of goods. This combination allows the state, with the help of prices, to determine and implement the goals and priorities of economic and social development and form appropriate proportions.

Pricing mechanism in terms of market relations manifests itself through prices and their dynamics. Price dynamics are formed under the influence of two important factors – strategic and tactical.

Strategic factor is expressed in the fact that prices are formed on the basis of the cost of goods. There are constant price fluctuations around the cost. This process is very complex.

The tactical factor is manifested in the fact that prices for specific goods are formed under the influence of market conditions.

The first factor is the factor of long-term prospective action. The second can change frequently (within days, hours), since the dynamics of market changes are very high; a comprehensive study of these changes is required here. Both the first and second factors are very important in a market economy; they need to be mastered perfectly and learned to use skillfully. Otherwise, it makes no sense for an enterprise or firm to join the market economy - this is fraught with negative economic consequences for them.

The first of these factors puts in the most favorable conditions those firms that have modern equipment, advanced technology, use advanced methods of organizing labor and production, etc. As a result, the greatest benefit goes to the company and enterprise whose production costs are lower. The second factor puts in the most favorable conditions those enterprises and firms that are able to perfectly, quickly and flexibly take advantage of market conditions. And in this case, flexibility, careful preparation of production and production infrastructure, as well as highly professional performers (personnel) are required. The greatest confidence in success and gain in the market are those firms and enterprises that have the opportunity to skillfully use both factors.

Consequently, in market conditions, price dynamics are formed in a completely different and largely unpredictable way. But this is the nature of the market and its laws that cannot be ignored. On the contrary, it is necessary to deeply and comprehensively study all market factors and learn how to use them correctly.

It should be kept in mind, and this is confirmed by experience foreign countries that the state can and should economically influence market conditions and price dynamics. However, the mechanism of government influence on the level and dynamics of prices in the context of the transition to a market economy is poorly established, which, given the high degree of monopoly of many manufacturers, leads to rising prices.

In this regard, a well-thought-out system of measures is required, which have already been tested in countries with market economies.

These include:

Establishment of price ceilings government agencies;
- measures taken by governing bodies aimed at developing competition;
- appropriate tax policy, etc.

A large role in this matter should be given to local governments, and all events organized in this area must be formalized by legislative acts in the center and locally.

An integral and very important element of the market is competition. Only owners can be normal competitors. The diversity of structures under one owner creates a monopoly, which gives rise to stagnation and conservation of backwardness in production.

The monopoly of state ownership in many industries is the main obstacle to the flow of resources directly through enterprises under the influence of the mechanisms of the law of value and pricing.

Therefore, there was an urgent need to change property relations, which should be done through legislation. It is necessary to introduce a variety of forms of ownership and recognition of their equality before the law. However, for market mechanisms to truly work, there must be a real diversity of forms of ownership at the enterprise level and their actual legal equality.

At present, state ownership still dominates in many respects. In this regard, the most important problem is the conversion of state property into collective and private property. The privatization of property, the transformation of workers into real owners in their enterprises, in production, and the overcoming of their alienation from property are the massive socio-economic basis for transferring the economy and the entire society to a market economy. Without the privatization of property, such a basis cannot be created; it simply does not exist. Without privatization of property, market, commodity-money relations cannot develop.

It should be noted that the market is a tough, uncompromising examiner of all its participants for their survival in the competitive struggle. The main condition for viability in the market is a high level of production and high professionalism in its management. Already, many firms and enterprises, unable to withstand the competition, go bankrupt and become bankrupt. But the capacities of these enterprises do not disappear, they pass into other hands, are technically improved, updated and included in the reproduction process in a new, more effective basis. Therefore, the bankruptcy of a particular owner and entrepreneur often results in an increase in economic efficiency for society as a whole.

Competition is a powerful driver of a market economy. It is she who moves the economy forward, using such an effective mechanism as the law of value, the pricing mechanism. Competition is a kind of test for an entrepreneur on the perfection of his production, on viability and survival. But at the same time, competition, and this is the main thing, is a mechanism for stimulating constant and comprehensive improvement of production, a mechanism for consolidating everything healthy in the economy and displacing what is imperfect and lagging behind.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that in antimonopoly legislation Western countries infringement of fair competition is considered one of the most serious crimes. Fair competition is key; to create it means to create a market.

The foundations of success in competition are rooted in the state of production. The world practice of a market economy is based on flexible production. It has the ability to quickly, as new needs arise, adapt to meet them, while dispensing with virtually no increased costs during the development of new products. If there is no flexible manufacturing, then the development time will be long. Without this production capability, it is impossible to compete with competitors in the market. Therefore, the transition to a market economy, in addition to market transformations themselves, requires a radical restructuring of production (technical, technological, organizational, etc.). This is a fundamental provision that is often forgotten, and often deliberately tried to be ignored - most likely because such a restructuring is associated with significant capital costs (investments).

As already noted, our economy still has a monopoly of state ownership. This monopoly is one of the main obstacles in the transition to a market economy. And vice versa, the variety of forms of ownership (cooperative, rental, joint stock, personal, etc.) is the basis economic basis, on which market relations actually grow and develop.

The practice of foreign countries with developed market economies has developed a system of antimonopoly measures, enshrining them in legislation. This path awaits us too.

Adopted in Russian Federation Law “On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in commodity markets"is aimed at suppressing any type of monopoly in the national economy. It creates ample opportunities for development entrepreneurial activity in conditions of competition, free struggle for the consumer with flexibility in prices, quality, terms, with increased attention to the buyer.

Competition inevitably puts an entrepreneur in a position where he is forced (if he wants to survive in the competition) to change a lot in the strategy and tactics of production, to continuously work on its improvement, improve the quality of his products, develop new types of them, use the most advanced and flexible pricing methods etc.

The market pricing mechanism must be such that it creates conditions for competition and the elimination of monopolism in industry and trade and through this contributes to the optimization of their structure, as well as the structure of consumption.

Organic elements planned economy is a system of prescriptive pricing, which weakly takes into account the economic interests of product manufacturers and their consumers. To provide economic development national economy, it is necessary to monitor the real rise and fall in price of elements of production costs and maintain correspondence between the supply and demand of goods. However, prescriptive prices cannot serve these purposes.

The effectiveness of the pricing method is primarily determined by how fully it takes into account demand, which determines the current market conditions and shapes the structure of investments and the economy itself. Policy prices signal little or no change in demand. This determines constant deficit goods and generates imbalances in production and consumption.

The absence of a market pricing mechanism does not prevent inflation in a planned economy. The inherent hidden inflation is accompanied by a shortage of goods and services. When hidden inflation becomes open, prices rise sharply.

Thus, prescriptive pricing causes a number of destabilizing contradictions in the economy, leading to a violation of the proportions of reproduction, a distortion of the interests of producers and consumers of products, and a separation of the economy from the final consumer.

The system of prescriptive pricing cannot serve as a tool for coordinating economic interests and is objectively a brake on economic development. This conditions the inevitability of the transition from a system of directive prices to prices, the establishment of which is based on a mutual agreement between the consumer of a product and its manufacturer.

Prices that are set by agreement of the parties in market conditions are called negotiated (free) prices. The idea of ​​contractual market pricing is to direct the manufacturing enterprise to produce goods that are in demand, which should help eliminate shortages. Flexibility and efficiency in setting market prices leads to the fact that the economy becomes more dynamic and focused on meeting social needs. Free (negotiable) prices, which are established by agreement of producers and consumers of products, are the most important element coordination of economic interests in the national economy.

The impact of a free pricing system on the economy can only be traced over time. If at some point the balance of supply and demand is achieved, then in the future it may be disrupted and, as a rule, is disturbed. In this regard, a special role is played by a systematic approach to free pricing in dynamics, consideration of market prices as one of constituent elements socio-economic system. Based on this, we can draw the following conclusion: free prices can operate normally only in combination, in a system with all other elements that make up a market economy.

It should be said that free prices by themselves do not ensure economic growth, and in many cases, especially in conditions of shortage, lead to a rapid increase in the price level. Rising prices in an unbalanced economy leads to a number of negative consequences for the country's economy.

Fast growth prices in an unsaturated and largely monopolized market for goods and services leads to disruption of production. At the same time, the reliability of planning at the level of an individual enterprise or firm decreases and the proportions of intra-industry and inter-industry connections are disrupted.

As a result, due to the fact that there is an easy opportunity to obtain additional profit, due not to an increase in production, but to an increase in prices, incentives to increase production output in physical terms fall. In conditions of inflation, this provokes a further decline in production and prevents the economy from emerging from the crisis.

Therefore, the rapid and simultaneous spread of free pricing for the bulk of the national economy's products can and has led to a deepening economic crisis in Russia. Thus, the simultaneous transition to free pricing for all goods was not economically and politically justified. It would be necessary to carry out a gradual transition to free prices and control their growth, pursuing an active anti-inflationary policy.

In order for the process of transition to free prices to occur normally, i.e. In order for the growth of free prices to be within acceptable limits and not lead, first of all, to a reduction in production, the following conditions are needed:

1) real economic independence of enterprises that have the right to participate in concluding price agreements;
2) no shortage of goods transferred for sale at free prices;
3) the absence of a monopoly of commodity producers;
4) structural restructuring of the economy, primarily basic sectors of the economy, and conversion of the defense complex;
5) ensuring a single economic space within the state;
6) legally established right to free choice of suppliers and consumers.

In the absence of the above conditions, it is necessary either to limit the scope of free prices, or, allowing their free movement, to carry out state regulation. Consequently, in these conditions it seems necessary to organize observation and control over free prices. Apparently, this is the most acceptable way to implement a policy in the field of free pricing during the transition to a market. Such control makes it possible to stop the decline in production, limit the rate of inflation, create incentives for commodity producers, and increase incomes through growth in production rather than prices.

In conditions of rapidly changing economic conditions, as is the case in Russia, the study of market conditions and the development on this basis of strategy and pricing tactics at each stage of economic development should begin with an analysis of the general economic situation in the country, i.e. from the analysis of macroeconomic processes.

With the transition of the economy to free pricing, the problem of bringing prices closer to costs that take into account objective differences in regional costs and demand emerging in different markets becomes more acute. In this regard, the problem of territorial (regional) differentiation of costs and prices in a market economy requires deep theoretical development. In these conditions, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that for individual goods there are objective features of the formation of connections between producers and consumers, which determine the nature and area of ​​sales markets, their division into a single market and into a system of regional (local) markets with their own price level. The price system formed in one regional market, through direct and feedback links, affects the price systems operating in other regional markets, as a result of which a single market and a price system adequate to this market are consistently and gradually formed. This process, which includes price confrontation and attempts by individual regions to solve their economic problems with the help of prices at the expense of other regions, is likely to be quite painful.

Considering the growing importance of the development of world economic relations for our economy, the system of domestic prices should increasingly reflect the movements and trends of world prices. This is inevitable if we really want to build a market economy and maximize the benefits of economic cooperation with the world community.

In the conditions of mutual economic dependence of the CIS countries, pricing issues become more relevant. They are resolved through the conclusion by the CIS countries of intergovernmental agreements on the principles of trade and economic cooperation, which contain price formulations determined by the parties. Their essence is that in some cases, payments for supplies of products from enterprises in the Commonwealth countries are made at negotiated prices, and in other cases, for certain, most important, mutually agreed upon types of products, world prices are used, recalculated into rubles at the agreed rate.

A number of agreements concluded by Russia with the CIS countries also stipulate the need for a coordinated policy in the field of pricing.

In the first years of the development of the Commonwealth, the pricing practice of interstate trade between the CIS countries was in many ways disadvantageous to Russia, since the most important resources were exported from it at relatively low, in comparison with world prices, and products were imported mainly at free prices, the level of which sometimes exceeded the world price or was close to him.

To prevent price increases due to unjustified inclusion of costs in production costs, agreed upon principles and methods for calculating product costs should be used. Therefore, it is advisable to provide in agreements for the exchange of information on applicable regulatory documents on pricing that are of mutual interest, as well as on the level and dynamics of free prices for the most important types of products.

The agreed pricing policy of the Commonwealth states during commodity exchange operations should be reflected in intergovernmental agreements, the implementation of which should be subject to proper control. Economic sanctions established by law should be applied to price violators, and, if necessary, these issues should be brought to the attention of governments.

Consequently, there is a need for a coordinated pricing policy for interstate deliveries in connection with agreements on monetary relations.

The principles and methods of pricing in a centralized economy are based on the fact that they are determined at the enterprise, i.e. in production, and often before the start of production. This approach inevitably leads to the fact that production costs are taken as the price base. Hence the dominance of the cost-based pricing method, which was criticized even under the conditions of a planned economy. With this approach to pricing, the market has a very weak impact on the level and dynamics of prices. At best, it records the degree of demand for a product at an already established price.

The fundamental difference between market pricing and centralized price setting is that the real process of price formation here occurs not in the sphere of production, not at the enterprise, but in the sphere of product sales, i.e. in the market, under the influence of supply and demand, commodity-money relations. The price of a product and its utility are tested by the market and are finally determined in the market.

Therefore, our ideas about the value of a product (its formation) and price as economic categories of the market are radically changing. Since only on the market does public recognition of products as goods occur, their value receives public recognition through the price mechanism only on the market.

Until recently, this fundamental theoretical position was almost completely ignored in our economic science and pricing practice. However, even now, pricing practice is often such that the costs of producing goods are considered socially necessary long before these goods appear on the market and are recognized as goods by buyers, i.e. long before the costs of their production are publicly recognized. This was largely facilitated by the constant and significant excess of demand over supply and the monopoly of goods manufacturers in recent years. Obviously, this practice clearly contradicts modern ideas of economic theory about a market economy.

The main fundamental difference between market pricing and planned pricing is also that the initial prices for goods are determined (set) by their owners, business entities. Only in this case can the alienation of commodity producers from the results of their labor be overcome.

For the vast majority of goods produced by business entities, the state also determines the general rules and principles of pricing, sometimes sets maximum levels of profitability or prices, and in this way carries out its management functions. But government agencies do not set specific prices for most goods for products manufactured by different owners.

Thus, enterprises or firms sell their goods and services, as a rule, at prices and tariffs established by them independently or on a contractual basis, and only in certain cases provided for by legislative acts, at state prices. State regulation of prices is carried out for the products of enterprises that occupy a monopoly position in the goods market, as well as for goods and services that determine the scale of prices in the economy and the social protection of certain categories of citizens.

Therefore, during the transition to a market, in a mixed (multi-structured) economy, the market pricing mechanism should not resist, but be flexibly combined with the mechanism of state regulation of prices for individual groups of goods. This combination allows the state, with the help of prices, to determine and implement the goals and priorities of economic and social development and form appropriate proportions.

The pricing mechanism in market conditions is manifested through prices and their dynamics. Price dynamics are formed under the influence of two important factors - strategic and tactical.

The strategic factor is expressed in the fact that prices are formed on the basis of the cost of goods. There are constant price fluctuations around the cost. This process is very complex.

The tactical factor is manifested in the fact that prices for specific goods are formed under the influence of market conditions.

The first factor is the factor of long-term prospective action. The second can change frequently (within days, hours), since the dynamics of market changes are very high; a comprehensive study of these changes is required here. Both the first and second factors are very important in a market economy; they need to be mastered perfectly and learned to use skillfully. Otherwise, it makes no sense for an enterprise or firm to join the market economy - this is fraught with negative economic consequences for them.

The first of these factors puts in the most favorable conditions those firms that have modern equipment, advanced technology, use advanced methods of organizing labor and production, etc. As a result, the greatest benefit goes to the firm and enterprise whose production costs are lower. The second factor puts in the most favorable conditions those enterprises and firms that are able to perfectly, quickly and flexibly take advantage of market conditions. And in this case, flexibility, careful preparation of production and production infrastructure, as well as highly professional performers (personnel) are required. The greatest confidence in success and gain in the market are those firms and enterprises that have the opportunity to skillfully use both factors.

Consequently, in market conditions, price dynamics are formed in a completely different and largely unpredictable way. But this is the nature of the market and its laws that cannot be ignored. On the contrary, it is necessary to deeply and comprehensively study all market factors and learn how to use them correctly.

It should be borne in mind, and this is confirmed by the experience of foreign countries, that the state can and should economically influence market conditions and price dynamics. However, the mechanism of government influence on the level and dynamics of prices in the context of the transition to a market is practically not established in our country, which, given the high degree of monopoly of manufacturers, leads to rising prices.

In this regard, a well-thought-out system of measures is required, which have already been tested in countries with market economies. These include: the establishment of price ceilings by government agencies; measures taken by governing bodies aimed at developing competition; appropriate tax policy, etc. A large role in this matter should be given to local governments, and all activities organized in this area must be formalized by legislative acts in the center and locally.

An integral and very important element of the market is competition. Only owners can be normal competitors. The diversity of structures under one owner creates a monopoly, which gives rise to stagnation and conservation of backwardness in production.

The monopoly of state ownership is the main obstacle to the flow of resources directly through enterprises under the influence of the mechanisms of the law of value and pricing. The situation is greatly complicated by the still existing egalitarian system of distribution of resources.

Therefore, there was an urgent need to change property relations, which should be done through legislation. It is necessary to introduce a variety of forms of ownership and recognition of their equality before the law. However, for market mechanisms to truly work, there must be a real diversity of forms of ownership at the enterprise level and their actual legal equality.

Currently, state ownership largely dominates. In this regard, the most important problem is the conversion of state property into collective and private property. The privatization of property, the transformation of workers into real owners in their enterprises, in production, and the overcoming of their alienation from property are the massive socio-economic basis for transferring the economy and the entire society to a market economy. Without the privatization of property, such a basis cannot be created; it simply does not exist. Without privatization of property, market, commodity-money relations cannot develop.

It should be noted that the market is a tough, uncompromising examiner of all its participants for their survival in the competitive struggle. The main condition for viability in the market is a high level of production and high professionalism in its management. Already, many firms and enterprises, unable to withstand the competition, go bankrupt and become bankrupt. But the capacity of these enterprises does not disappear, they change hands, are technically improved, updated and included in the reproduction process on a new, more efficient basis. Therefore, the bankruptcy of a particular owner and entrepreneur often results in an increase in economic efficiency for society as a whole.

Competition is a powerful driver of a market economy. It is she who directs the economy forward, using such an effective mechanism as the law of value, the pricing mechanism. Competition is a kind of test for an entrepreneur on the perfection of his production, on viability and survival. But at the same time, competition, and this is the main thing, is a mechanism for stimulating constant and comprehensive improvement of production, a mechanism for consolidating everything healthy in the economy and displacing what is imperfect and lagging behind.

In the antimonopoly legislation of Western countries, infringement of fair competition is considered one of the most serious crimes. Fair competition is key; to create it means to create a market.

The foundations of success in competition are rooted in the state of production. The world practice of a market economy is based on flexible production. It has the ability to quickly, as new needs arise, adapt to meet them, while dispensing with virtually no increased costs during the development of new products. If there is no flexible manufacturing, then the development time will be long. Without this production capability, it is impossible to compete with competitors in the market. Therefore, the transition to a market economy, in addition to market transformations themselves, requires a radical restructuring of production (technical, technological, organizational, etc.). This is a fundamental provision that is often forgotten, and often deliberately tried to be ignored - most likely because such a restructuring is associated with significant capital costs (investments).

As already noted, our economy is dominated by the monopoly of state ownership. This monopoly is one of the main obstacles in the transition to a market economy. And vice versa, the variety of forms of ownership (cooperative, rental, joint stock, personal, etc.) is the basis, the economic basis on which market relations actually grow and develop.

The practice of foreign countries with developed market economies has developed a system of antimonopoly measures, enshrining them in legislation. This path awaits us too.

The Law “On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in Commodity Markets” adopted in the Russian Federation is aimed at suppressing any type of monopolism in the national economy. It creates ample opportunities for the development of entrepreneurial activity in a competitive environment, free struggle for the consumer with flexibility in prices, quality, terms, and with increased attention to the buyer.

Competition inevitably puts an entrepreneur in a position where he is forced (if he wants to survive in the competition) to change a lot in the strategy and tactics of production, to continuously work on its improvement, improve the quality of his products, develop new types of them, use the most advanced and flexible pricing methods etc.

The market pricing mechanism must be such that it creates conditions for competition and the elimination of monopolism in industry and trade and through this contributes to the optimization of their structure, as well as the structure of consumption.

An organic element of a planned economy is a system of prescriptive pricing, which weakly takes into account the economic interests of product manufacturers and their consumers. To ensure the economic development of the national economy, it is necessary to monitor the real rise and fall in price of elements of production costs and maintain correspondence between the supply and demand of goods. However, prescriptive prices cannot serve these purposes.

The effectiveness of the pricing method is, first of all, determined by how fully it takes into account demand, which determines the current market conditions and shapes the structure of investments and the economy itself. Policy prices signal little or no change in demand. This causes a constant shortage of goods and gives rise to imbalances in production and consumption.

The absence of a market pricing mechanism does not prevent inflation in a planned economy. The inherent hidden inflation is accompanied by a shortage of goods and services. When hidden inflation becomes open, prices rise sharply.

Thus, prescriptive pricing causes a number of destabilizing contradictions in the economy, leading to a violation of the proportions of reproduction, a distortion of the interests of producers and consumers of products, and a separation of the economy from the final consumer.

The system of prescriptive pricing cannot serve as a tool for coordinating economic interests and is objectively a brake on economic development. This conditions the inevitability of the transition from a system of directive prices to prices, the establishment of which is based on a mutual agreement between the consumer of a product and its manufacturer.

Prices that are set by agreement of the parties in market conditions are called negotiated (free) prices. The idea of ​​contractual market pricing is to direct the manufacturing enterprise to produce goods that are in demand, which should help eliminate shortages. Flexibility and efficiency in setting market prices leads to the fact that the economy becomes more dynamic and focused on meeting social needs. Free (negotiable) prices, which are established by agreement of commodity producers and consumers of products, are an important element in the coordination of economic interests in the national economy.

The impact of a free pricing system on the economy can only be traced over time. If at some point a balance of supply and demand is achieved, then in the future it may be disrupted and, as a rule, is disturbed. In this regard, a special role is played by a systematic approach to free pricing in dynamics, consideration of market prices as one of the constituent elements of the socio-economic system. Based on this, we can draw the following conclusion: free prices can operate normally only in combination, in a system with all other elements that make up a market economy.

It should be said that free prices by themselves do not ensure economic growth, and in many cases, especially in conditions of shortage, lead to a rapid increase in the price level. Rising prices in an unbalanced economy leads to a number of negative consequences for the country's economy.

A rapid rise in prices in an unsaturated and largely monopolized market for goods and services leads to disruption of production. At the same time, the reliability of planning at the level of an individual enterprise or firm decreases, and the proportions of intra-industry and inter-industry connections are disrupted.

As a result, due to the fact that there is an easy opportunity to obtain additional profit, due not to an increase in production, but to an increase in prices, incentives to increase production output in physical terms fall. In conditions of inflation, this provokes a further decline in production and prevents the economy from emerging from the crisis.

Therefore, the rapid and simultaneous spread of free pricing for the bulk of the national economy’s products can and has led in Russia to a deepening economic crisis, the way out of which is very problematic. Thus, a simultaneous transition to free pricing for all goods is not economically and politically justified due to the immediate and long-term consequences - a gradual transition to free prices should be carried out and their growth should be controlled by pursuing an active anti-inflationary policy.

In order for the process of transition to free prices to occur normally, i.e. In order for the growth of free prices to be within acceptable limits and not lead, first of all, to a reduction in production, the following conditions are needed:

• 1) real economic independence of enterprises that have the right to participate in concluding price agreements;
• 2) no shortage of goods transferred for sale at free prices;
• 3) the absence of a monopoly of commodity producers;
• 4) structural restructuring of the economy, primarily basic sectors of the economy, and conversion of the defense complex;
• 5) ensuring a single economic space within the state;
• 6) legally established right to free choice of suppliers and consumers.

In the absence of the above conditions, it is necessary either to limit the scope of free prices, or, allowing their free movement, to carry out state regulation. Consequently, in these conditions it seems necessary to organize observation and control over free prices. Apparently, this is the most acceptable way to implement a policy in the field of free pricing during the transition to a market. Such control is carried out in order to stop the decline in production, limit the rate of inflation, create incentives for commodity producers, and increase incomes through increased production rather than prices.

In conditions of rapidly changing economic conditions, as is the case in Russia, the study of market conditions and the development on this basis of strategy and pricing tactics at each stage of economic development should begin with an analysis of the general economic situation in the country, i.e. from the analysis of macroeconomic processes.

With the transition of the economy to free pricing, the problem of bringing prices closer to costs that take into account objective differences in regional costs and demand emerging in different markets becomes more acute. In this regard, the problem of territorial (regional) differentiation of costs and prices in a market economy requires deep theoretical development. In these conditions, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that for individual goods there are objective features of the formation of connections between producers and consumers, which determine the nature and area of ​​sales markets, their division into a single market and into a system of regional (local) markets with their own price level. The price system formed in one regional market, through direct and feedback links, affects the price systems operating in other regional markets, as a result of which a single market and a price system adequate to this market are consistently and gradually formed. This process, which includes price confrontation and attempts by individual regions to solve their economic problems with the help of prices at the expense of other regions, is likely to be quite painful.

Considering the growing importance of the development of world economic relations for our economy, the system of domestic prices should increasingly reflect the movements and trends of world prices. This is inevitable if we really want to build a market economy and maximize the benefits of economic cooperation with the world community.

In the conditions of mutual economic dependence of the CIS countries, pricing issues become more relevant. They are resolved through the conclusion by the CIS countries of intergovernmental agreements on the principles of trade and economic cooperation, which contain price formulations determined by the parties. Their essence is that in some cases, payments for supplies of products from enterprises in the Commonwealth countries are made at negotiated prices, and in other cases, for certain, most important, mutually agreed upon types of products, world prices are used, recalculated into rubles at the agreed rate.