"The chain between producer and consumer is flawed and ultimately both parties are harmed – the producer, who does not receive a fair price, and us as end consumers". This was stated in "Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov" by former Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Naydenov. He commented on the reasons for the high food prices in our country and the measures that the state is trying to take to control them.
Price ceiling
Miroslav Naydenov also commented on the bill being prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce a price ceiling. He stressed that this is a temporary anti-crisis measure that will be in effect for between 6 months and a year, and is an important mechanism when entering the eurozone to avoid speculative price increases.
Naydenov supported the industry organizations' insistence that the markup rate be calculated after adding all costs for the sale of the goods. "It is fair to deduct all costs and then add the markup, because the costs are different at different stages of this food chain", he said. However, the former minister admitted that there is a risk of abuse: "There may and will certainly be such attempts, categorically. The Bulgarian is the king of this thing of labeling. That is why there are competent authorities to monitor and control."
A 10% mark-up is planned for importers of food from third countries that are not subject to processing, 10% for wholesalers and 20% for retailers with a turnover of over 20 million leva.
Restrictions in chains and money from Europe
The idea that 50% of food in large chains should come from Bulgarian producers is "an extremely big challenge", Naydenov believes. "I am rather pessimistic that this will happen", he said, citing meat production, especially beef, as problematic sectors, as well as the seasonal nature of vegetable production.
He also expressed concern about the reduction in agricultural subsidies in the next EU budget period due to the redirection of funds to Ukraine. "It will have an extremely bad impact not only on Bulgarian agricultural producers. I repeat, who will suffer from this? On the one hand, agricultural producers, but in any case, the end consumer in our person", predicted Naydenov.
Food from the trunk and the state against speculation
Naydenov defined the model of direct sales from the trunk of a car as illegal, since there is a lack of health control, and urged consumers not to be tempted by lower prices. According to him, the right path is the development of farmers' markets and the creation of cooperatives that can offer their produce in their own stores.
He believes that in Bulgaria the prices of the same goods are higher compared to Western Europe, because our market is smaller and with lower competition. "Where there is a large market, where there is high consumption, prices are kept lower, because there is huge demand and greater competition", concluded Miroslav Naydenov.