I don't know whether we are a club or a peacock feather, but we – CPC, we play the role of a punching bag for the political forces. Some politicians, I won't mention names because we are in an election campaign, but I will tell them after the elections, for more than 6 years they have been practicing on the CPC.
Professor Plamen Kirov, a member of the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC), stated this in an interview with BNR.
"Something that shocked me, I have attended hearings in the Economic Committee of the National Assembly, is that the same people did not bother to read the Law on Protection of Competition, the Law on Public Procurement and on Concessions. Especially ZZK! They do not want to understand that the CPC does not determine prices, it is not a price authority. The political talk regarding the CPC crosses the boundaries of decency, I understand them, they build their political activity by looking for a convenient target and using the CPC as a punching bag", comments Prof. Kirov.
He shared that there may be cases in which the CPC was not right, they made a mistake, but in general the statistics show otherwise.
"In the sector "Public Procurement" for 2023, the CPC has created 1191 files in 12 months. Note that of these, 1,088 are under ZOP, 102 under PPE proceedings and one for concession. Of the decisions of the CPC on the PLO, only 38 have been challenged in court. So, 38%, and the remaining 60% are accepted as fair and lawful, and the acts of the Civil Service Act canceled by the Supreme Court are about 4%", argues the professor.
Kirov comments on competition in hospitals and healthcare.
"We shift the center of the problem. The Constitution talks about health care, health care, not the provision of healthy services, of course they are related to commercial activity. And this is about protecting people's health. Health cannot be a commodity. We must understand that guaranteeing health care, not services, is the task of Bulgarian society and Bulgarian politicians. Healthcare is not a commercial activity and it should not be a service market", explained Plamen Kirov.
On the accepted fixed markup of bread he said:
"This problem is not new, the CPC dealt with it back in 2019 and came up with a conclusion. What the National Assembly did was electioneering. I emphasize that low prices are the result of competition, not regulation. The prices of 3 types of bread will be low, but other types of bread will be offered and the price will go up. Interestingly, other countries in Europe have applied markup restrictions, but in a short period the effect was the opposite."
Warning: The cap on the trade markup for bread is a dangerous precedent
According to him, the increase in the prices of essential foodstuffs - bread, is not due to reasons related to retail trade.
"Completely others are – inflationary processes that do not struggle with a fixed overprice, processes with geopolitics, military conflicts, supplies, import of grain, flour from other markets, etc., explained the representative of the CPC.
Prof. Kirov reported that 2 years for a sector analysis seems like a long period, but such sector analyzes require the collection of a huge amount of information and the analysis is not easy, this time frame is common for oil.
"Actually, in 2023, 3 more productions were formed, targeted and subject to investigation for cartel and unjustified increase in the prices of eggs and dairy products, etc. They are currently at the attention of the commission, being referred to a cartel and the proceedings are not finished, we hope to finish them. We are now at the level of gathering information," he explained.
And he explained that "food prices are rising not only in Europe but all over the world":
"The reasons are not only related to trade, but to production. You see EU policy in the field, farmers are in the corner, part of the land should not be cultivated but left fallow and at the same time an agreement is being signed with Latin American countries. And all politics should encourage production. If we do not import food into Bulgaria, there will be famine in 3 months. Now we import 70% of food, thanks to a short-sighted policy in agriculture", comments Prof. Plamen Kirov.
He announced that the decisions for telecoms have been published on the website of the CPC. There are also the motifs of 40 – 50 pages with which the CPC examines markets and player shares.
"CPC has issued a decision that is subject to judicial review. There are currently two pending proceedings in the Administrative Court – Sofia city and will conclude whether the court will confirm our decision or cancel it. We will wait for the court's decision," said Kirov.
And he thinks that always behind the defense and talking about the general interest, specific business interests are hidden.