Buying food in Russia recently has gotten much more expensive as the county's ban on Western food imports appears to be hurting people across Russia.

Since the ban was enacted on Aug. 7, the price of imported pork in Moscow has increased by 6 percent, according to BBC. In St. Petersburg it's even worse with pork prices up 23.5 percent and chicken prices up 25.8 percent.

The Russian government banned food imports from Europe and the U.S. in response to sanctions placed on the country over the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has been looking to Latin American and Turkey to compensate for the dearth of food imports.

The food ban covers a wide range Western imports from the West with some exemptions, such as alcohol, baby food, pet food, coffee and olive oil.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that he didn't expect the ban to cause price increases or shortages in stores, adding that he hopes the ban won't last long.

"Clumsy efforts by the state somehow regulate price formation," said Nina Oding, a Russian economist. "We're heading for restricted choice, more monopolistic tendencies, prices will rise -- and we're already seeing the start of that process."

In some of Russia's more remote eastern areas -- like the Primorye region and the island of Sakhalin -- food prices have jumped even more than in western Russia. On Sakhalin, cheese prices were up 10 percent, meat was up 15 percent and chicken thighs have jumped a shocking 60 percent.

Some reports claim that the price jump may be a short-term effect of the ban that will improve once previously underutilized markets catch up, Forbes reported.

"China is ready to further work with Russia to expand bilateral trade in agricultural products," Chinese ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang said. "China ... will continue to create the conditions for bilateral cooperation in the energy and agricultural sectors."

In Moscow this week, Russian agriculture official Sergei Dankvert had meetings with representatives from several Latin American countries to discuss replacing Western imports of meats and other food items.

"This (ban) could provide a major opportunity for Latin American economies, especially for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay," said Robert Wood, an economic analyst for The Economist Intelligence Unit.