Penza, 11 December 2012. PenzaNews. Inspection of catering in Penza schools will soon be held at the request of the head of the city Yuri Alpatov.

“Companies providing school catering are exempt from rent and utility payments, but the markup they set on the non-obligatory menu — and these are pies and salads popular among students — are up to 45%,” Yuri Alpatov said at the meeting of the City Duma Standing Committee on budget, finance and tax policy on Tuesday, December 11.

In his opinion, the committee of the department of education and the members of the City Duma should visit schools, assess the percentage of mandatory catering and non-obligatory menu, and then find a way to reduce the markup to 5–7%.

“At the same time we must preserve the quality of food so that the students could have healthy and balanced nutrition,” he added.

In his turn, the head of the department of education of Penza Yuri Golodyaev explained that the maximum possible markup of 45% is set by the regional enactment, and for some products, such as bread, it is much lower.