Balgarianovinite.com The proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and the Protection of Competition Act will not lead to lower prices and may even have the opposite effect, said Assen Vassilev, leader of the Continue the Change (CC) party, speaking to journalists on Tuesday after a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Budget and Finance in the newly elected National Assembly.
According to him, the revisions to the Consumer Protection Act had already been proposed by GERB last year and approved through amendments to the Introduction of the Euro Act, and have so far produced no result. “What became clear is that they did not stop the increase in prices,” the former finance minister said.
He noted that the CC will support at second reading two specific provisions in the competition protection bill, related to expanding the definition of unfair practices in contracts between retail chains and producers.
According to Vassilev, however, the remaining texts in the draft are “very concerning”. He criticized the proposals which, in his view, eliminate the presumption of innocence and place companies in a position where they must prove themselves not guilty.
The CC leader also commented that a new approach is being introduced for determining a “lack of competition”, under which companies may be treated as a cartel without there being coordination between them.
He also expressed doubts regarding the possibility of the state determining a “fair price” for a vast number of goods. In his words, the Commission for Consumer Protection and the Economy Ministry cannot realistically analyze millions of items every day and determine their real cost price. “This is an analysis that usually takes months and is carried out for a limited number of products. It is absurd to do it daily for millions of items,” Vasilev said.
According to him, imposing administrative burdens usually backfires and may trigger a further increase in prices. He added that if the proposals are adopted in their current form, the only real positive effect would be a better profit margin for Bulgarian producers compared with retail chains. Assen Vassilev: Proposed Consumer and Competition Legislation Will Not Reduce Prices 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-12 13:16:30 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law