Around September 15, we are observing significant increases in the prices of goods such as backpacks, notebooks and other school supplies. This was stated in the program "From the Day" on BNT by the Chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission, Alexander Kolyachev.
We will soon have results from the inspections. We call on consumers to be a little more vigilant and to shop responsibly, he added.
Our activity during this one year, during which the Euro Law was in effect, was a control one. We are not a price regulator, we investigated when a price increases whether the increase was invented by the trader in order to harm the consumer, Kolyachev pointed out.
In my opinion, the sanctions provided for in the Euro Introduction Act were not sufficiently disciplinary, especially for large traders. However, the latest legal changes to the Consumer Protection Act significantly increased the sanctions. The message is that businesses should comply with the rules. Over the past year, 15,000 active inspections have been carried out, and we have sanctioned 10% of the inspected traders, and the total amount of the sanctions is 1.5 million euros. With the legal changes, it is possible for just one of our sanctions to reach 1.5 million euros. This is also a call for traders to rethink their behavior and not raise prices unreasonably, the head of the Consumer Protection Commission emphasized.
When the euro was introduced in our country, the majority of businesses approached responsibly and tried in every way to follow the rules. It was important to smoothly transition through the adoption of the euro. We were on the ground and showed that there is and will be control. Since the new Consumer Protection Act came into force, traders have been very careful about their behavior, commented Alexander Kolyachev.
In terms of prices this year, many factors came together. The introduction of the euro led to stress on the market and traders' desire to round up prices. Separately, we also have wars and geopolitical factors. But this thing is already breaking down - we have had a decrease in monthly inflation for three months in a row. We believe that things are calm at the moment, Kolyachev also said.