„The consumer basket is 6 euros more expensive than the beginning of the year.“ This was announced by Vladimir Ivanov from the Euro Coordination Center.
He explained that the growth is mainly related to seasonal factors in vegetables, and not to the euro.
„Currently we have the seasonal factor entirely. Red pepper - over 100%. Green pepper - over 100%. Zucchini - over 100%“, Ivanov added.
According to him, there is no significant movement in other basic foods:
„In the case of basic food products - flour and eggs, respectively sugar - they have been exactly at zero since the beginning of the year. Yogurt is down 6 cents, pork – down 32 cents. Problems are being overstated. We are currently in a period of true winter price increases. It would have happened regardless of the currency. We must admit that the price increases for green pepper, red pepper and zucchini are quite startling, as well as for cucumbers. There is simply very little supply. But all this is a completely natural market factor and is not related to the eurozone and the euro.“
A month and a half after Bulgaria entered the eurozone and a little more than two weeks after we pay only in euros, “the most important result is that we have gone through the process very smoothly“, said Vladimir Ivanov.
According to him, at the moment about 85% of the levs have been seized by the BNB, and approximately 5 billion levs remain in circulation.
“We no longer have a problem with circulation, in general it is well secured with euros. And we have no problem with lev cash“, Ivanov emphasized.
He also recalled the terms for exchanging the remaining levs:
“The exchange is free at the BNB. Accordingly, in commercial banks - up to 6 months, and at the post office. Literally, if someone has leftover leva, there is no problem returning them – completely calmly, without tension, without panic.”
According to him, it is normal for about 10% of leva to remain outside the system – because of collectors, sentiment or lost banknotes.
„They keep it for sentiment. Other collectors collect certain banknotes. Other banknotes are destroyed or for some reason hidden, unfound. So far, there is no practice in any country to seize 100%“, said Ivanov.
He also commented on the possibility that some of the unexchanged leva could be “gray money“:
„Rather, these last 15%, there is such money that people cannot show. I advise them to declare it. To pay their taxes on time. There is no way to avoid the undeclaration of this type of money.“
Ivanov explained that the intensified inspections on the occasion of the introduction of the euro continue, with the deadline until August 8, according to the decision of the Council of Ministers and the law.
The National Anti-Corruption Agency has conducted over 8,000 inspections since the beginning of the campaign, with 571 administrative-criminal cases, 80 criminal decrees and the issuance of the others is pending.
The Criminal Procedure Code has about 160 administrative-criminal cases. The fines are up to 200,000 leva.
According to him, the sanctions are serious and are usually paid:
„They are of a fairly serious size – from 5 to 200 thousand leva, this is not a good practice, recidivism, since the next fine is quite serious“, said Ivanov.
He added that the share of violators in the market is not surprising:
„In general, people who decide to be in violation are about 11-12% of the market players. And in connection with the Euro Adoption Act alone - they are under 10%.“
According to Ivanov, violations are most often found in small commercial establishments and services:
„The most common violators are small establishments, usually for services - small-scale catering establishments. Where there is a certain hairdressing salon, there are cases where a haircut costs 10 leva and costs 20 euros. These are people who do not care about their reputation.“
He also gave examples of “numbers“ in services.
“Car washes that reduced the price to 50 euro cents, but also reduced the time. People do not like this type of number and it annoys them. Children's attractions and entertainment - from one lev to one euro“, Ivanov explained.
Regarding the inspections around February 14, including at flower shops, Ivanov specified that the results would be summarized at an upcoming briefing.
The inspections on the introduction of the euro will continue until August 8, with the institutions promising to monitor both the correct indication of prices and attempts at unjustified increases.