In general, we do not find any very worrying trends in pricing on our Black Sea Coast. This was said in the “Interview of the Day“ on bTV by Alexander Kolyachev - Chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC)
“We are checking the suspicious prices. Currently, we have increased control on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. We have also sent employees from other settlements to help our colleagues. We are constantly monitoring both prices and the announcement in both currencies, which is currently still active. We have good results from our checks on the Black Sea Coast. We had joint inspections with the Ministry of Tourism“, Kolyachev pointed out.
According to him, the suspiciously inflated prices are only isolated cases that have been taken out of context. “In general, we do not find very worrying trends in pricing on our Black Sea coast. The resorts are already full, so the season should be considered successful“.
“Acts are drawn up where there are violations of our legislation. Penal decrees also follow. In most cases, when an institution reveals that someone is unreasonably raising prices, this person automatically changes them“, Kolyachev pointed out.
He pointed out that there is currently a large number of inspectors checking on the Black Sea coast - both from the CPC and the National Revenue Agency (NRA). So Bulgarian citizens should be satisfied“.
“What is being released by the NSI - the data regarding monthly inflation and annual inflation, is encouraging for us. Monthly inflation has broken its trend of monthly increase and currently inflation of 2% has been announced for June, with food prices falling. Food from the small consumer basket has even fallen in price by up to 2.5%“, shared Kolyachev.
According to him, the same trend is observed on the website “How much does it cost?“. “Even for July it is expected to be even better“.
“The seasonality of the products is one of the factors for the price reduction, but the government's aspirations and actions, especially with the initiative “Basket for Care“, as well as other initiatives and legislative changes that are planned and have already been introduced, certainly contribute to this positive trend“, believes the chairman of the Consumers' Confederation.
He shared that the participants in “Basket for Care“ continue to increase their number. Currently, there are 14 participants. “The initiative is certainly recognizable from a consumer point of view“, he believes.
Kolyachev explained that the products are located in the respective stands. “They have distinctive signs and this has been agreed with us by each of the chains. The goal is stability, predictability and responsibility towards Bulgarian consumers“.
“This measure is definitely working. And its results are yet to be observed. We have broken one trend of monthly price increases. Now we hope it will continue“, he pointed out.
“Regarding the share distribution, we received a complaint from a civil initiative on July 21. Even before that, in connection with media publications and appearances, we had taken action“, said the chairman of the NRA.
“We have requested the relevant information from the share distributors. We expect the information to arrive at us, where it will show what the current value was, what the previous price was, whether there is an economic justification for the increase and when, as well as how, the consumers themselves were informed, because this is also very important“, he explained.
In his words, a month and a half after these prices were introduced, people understand directly that they need to seek information. “This is very appropriate from the signal and we will follow the steps that we have in the CPC on this case“.
“For May, inflation was 6.9%. This shows that it is falling. We will look for all the economic prerequisites that stand for a price increase and for a future period - 2026-2027. There is a tendency for prices to rise for some companies - for one service, for others – for more“, he shared.
Kolyachev explained that safety is a top priority of the CPC, especially when it comes to the safety of children.
He called on all owners of amusement parks to bring them into compliance with the legal framework. “Children's safety should be our common priority. We carry out many such inspections. They will be intensified by the end of August“.
“The most common violations are missing documentation, tests, problems with the facilities themselves. Last week we stopped a water slide, which is also aimed at children. We need to pay more serious attention there and check until all owners of such facilities bring them into compliance“, added Kolyachev.