A third boycott of supermarkets over rising prices is being prepared

Mass inspections of food prices continue. After the Food Safety Agency, the National Revenue Agency (NRA), and the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) launched inspections in both small and large stores and warehouses yesterday, the focus is now on wholesalers. The NRA conducted surprise checks at market places. The goal is to track the path of goods and examine the prices at which they enter and exit the markets. The results of yesterday's boycott of large stores are still awaited.

Early in the morning, tax officials conducted surprise checks at market places in Sofia and the village of Parvenets near Plovdiv. Producers showed their financial documents but called for measures to protect local production.

"If you have invoices and issue receipts, everything is normal. Bulgarian production should be supported, and the prices of imports should be monitored to prevent them from undercutting Bulgarian production," said Vasil Markov.

"We, the ones who remain working, are always in the spotlight. Everything is checked – documents, cash registers, invoices, the origin of goods. Nothing unusual, everything is like anywhere else. I was a producer years ago, my father worked in the industry for many years, and we saw that there was simply no sense in it, no future. Everything is dying, and the Bulgarian producer is completely crushed by imports and prices," said Plamen Petkov.

"During the checks, inspectors will request documents on the origin of goods, delivery and sales prices, and declarations on trade markups. The idea is to trace the pricing of essential goods," noted Filipina Todorova, Director of Fiscal Control at the NRA.

The inspections will continue until the end of next week. The results will be included in the upcoming bill on the agro-food chain. No maximum prices are planned to be set in the bill, the Minister of Agriculture Georgi Tahov told Bulgarian National Television.

"Currently, a process is underway to establish rules for markups. Artificially imposing markups just because the state needs to enforce them is not the way. There will be rules for associated costs," said Minister Tahov.

At a roundtable organised by the Speaker of Parliament, regulators and farmers were heard. The Commission for Protection of Competition, which is analysing market prices, urged people to report, including anonymously.

"The CPC must have evidence of agreements and must have proof in order to start a case. The Commission needs information from all of you who expect a reaction regarding such agreements. The CPC’s analysis has shown a decrease in Bulgarian production," said Nadya Mincheva from the Competition Protection Commission.

"I agree that there are unregulated goods from Turkey and imports. These actions need to be stopped, and such bad practices need to be addressed. The idea is to hear from you," said Dragomir Stoynev from the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

"Control is only happening with us producers, but interestingly, you, our politicians, don't see that there is no control over the monopoly of the chains," asked Boyko Sinapov, from the United Bulgarian Livestock Producers.

The organisers of the two previous boycotts are preparing a third one and have accused large stores.

"The empire of the chains has responded – promotions of 50% or more. What percentage of this turnover is promotional? Because the promotions were the reason a part of the poor population went to shop," stated Maya Manolova, former ombudsman.

The organisers stated that their protests will extend to other sectors as well.