Russia has asked its neighbour Kazakhstan to increase egg supplies to Russian retailers, the Kazakh government said on Wednesday, after President Vladimir Putin personally apologised for soaring egg prices.

The Kazakh cabinet said in a statement that a Russian deputy prime minister had raised the matter in talks with his Kazakh counterpart Serik Zhumangarin, who in turn ordered the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry to look into it, reported Reuters.

The price of eggs in Russia rose more than 40% last year and the Moscow government has said it will exempt 1.2 billion eggs from import duty in the first half of this year in order to address the problem.