Work is underway to create a central electronic register of food prices, something that has never before been established in Bulgaria. Once it is in place, regulators will have access to real data and mechanisms enabling them to flag unfair trading practices, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said here on Friday during parliamentary question time in response to a question from the GERB-UDF parliamentary group about rising food prices.
“There is always more that can be done about prices,” Radev said. He recalled that the first laws proposed by the government upon taking office were two bills amending the legislation governing the Commission for Consumer Protection and the Commission for Protection of Competition. The aim, he said, was to establish a coherent system which, based on these laws and subsequent methodologies, would provide the two regulators with the necessary tools to monitor pricing violations much more effectively.
Until the central electronic price register is created, Radev said, the Government has held talks with major food retailers, which have voluntarily undertaken commitments regarding prices through the Care Basket initiative. “This was something we could do while seeking a balance between the principles of a free market economy and sanctioning all violations along the pricing chain. The Care Basket approach needs to be complemented by more serious measures, which we will begin implementing,” Prime Minister Radev said. He added that fines for unfair trading practices had been significantly increased and that the two regulators were now better equipped to enforce the rules.
The Prime Minister said he had requested data from the National Statistical Institute on inflation in essential food products. “There was an upward trend from January to April. From May, we began to see deflation in food prices,” Radev said, citing the statistics. He added that food prices subsequently began rising again.
Radev, however, drew attention to all the factors contributing to prices, including fuel costs. “Our prices are among the lowest in Europe. Only Malta and countries that still receive oil through the Russian Druzhba pipeline are ahead of us,” Radev said.
He also recalled measures taken by the Government, including EUR 55 million for large commercial carriers that have an impact on pricing, support for agricultural producers, subsidies for public transport, a reduction in the excise duty on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and the provision of EUR 50 to the most vulnerable people without requiring them to submit declarations.
PM Radev Says Central Electronic Register of Food Prices Underway THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-02 09:17:50
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