The Commission for Consumer Protection has found markups of between 30% and 40% during promotions at the five largest retail chains. This was announced by the commission’s chair, Maya Manolova, on the BNT programme “The Interview”.
According to her, promotional terms are often at the expense of suppliers and Bulgarian food producers, while the chains retain high markups.
“What we found in our inspections of the five largest chains is that during promotions they apply markups of up to 40%. A 30–40% markup. And very often these promotions are primarily at the expense of suppliers and Bulgarian food producers,” Maya Manolova said.Referrals to the Commission for the Protection of Competition
The CPC has referred the five largest retail chains to the Commission for the Protection of Competition. According to Manolova, the inspections found violations of the ban on differences of more than 10% in the markups of similar products from the same product category.
The CPC chair said that the documents had been provided by the companies themselves during the official inspections. Such violations carry penalties of up to 10% of turnover, with their imposition falling within the competence of the CPC.
Manolova said the goal was not simply to stop prices from rising, but to achieve an actual reduction in the prices of essential food products. She pointed out that this concerns, for example, around 20 goods, for which lowering markups should also lead to lower prices for consumers.
“For me, simply stopping food prices from rising is not a goal. It is not a victory. What needs to happen is that for essential food products, for example 20 of them, lowering the markups must also bring down the prices,” Manolova said.Warning to “Toplofikatsia Sofia”
In the interview, the CPC chair also commented on the problems at “Toplofikatsia Sofia”. At the commission’s insistence, a meeting of the relevant committee of the Sofia Municipal Council was held due to delayed repairs and problems with the heat transmission network.
Manolova warned that she would file class-action lawsuits if the bills for November did not reflect the compensations due for the days without heating. The bills are expected to be issued in mid-December.
Over-the-counter medicine prices
Manolova also identified the prices of over-the-counter medicines as one of the CPC’s priorities. According to her, the current rules allow importers to determine the maximum prices of these medicines without sufficiently effective control.
She said that, together with the Ministry of Health, legislative amendments had been prepared and were due to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.
Manolova also commented on the withdrawn draft amendments to the Personal Assistance Act. She said that the rights of people with disabilities should not be changed without the participation of the families affected, and insisted that personal assistance must retain security in terms of personal assistants, employment contracts and increasing remuneration.
Sources: bntnews.bg