Higher Russian wholesale dairy product prices have led to a 3-18 percent increase in retail prices since the start of August, the Federal Antimonopoly Service said on Wednesday.

Price growth has been registered in the Altai, Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk territories, the republics of Bashkiria, Tatarstan, and Kostroma, Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions, the watchdog said.

"Companies say that milk production costs to a great extent depend on production volumes and factory capacity loading, which has recently fallen 25-30 percent due to the current raw milk shortage. Higher production costs per liter of milk raised wholesale prices," the service said.

In July, the National Union of Milk Producers said dairy product prices could rise 6-10 percent due to the abnormal heat and drought that hit the country this summer, but Russians would never face a milk deficit.

In August, one of Russia's largest dairy product makers, Wimm-Bill-Dann, said prices might rise 10-15 percent.

MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA Novosti)