“This is a battle that must end in favour of Bulgarian citizens and Bulgarian consumers” – this is how Maya Manolova, Chair of the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP), described the institutions’ actions against excessive mark-ups on food products. Appearing on “More of the Day”, she discussed the results of inspections of retail chains, price differences between Bulgaria and Germany, market violations and upcoming inspections of medicines.
Manolova pointed to Germany as a benchmark for comparison, where gross margins on dairy products are between 15% and 17%, while retail mark-ups range from 17% to 20%:
“As part of the inspection we are carrying out, we have identified the highest retail mark-ups on basic food products. You can see the highest mark-ups on butter, white cheese, yellow cheese, milk and tomatoes. The range is from 99% to 141%. These are the highest mark-ups,” she said.
According to her, the mere existence of a high mark-up is not illegal. However, the law prohibits differences in mark-ups on similar products in the same category from different suppliers from exceeding 10%.
“These differences between mark-ups, when they exceed 10%, are prohibited. This is an absolute ban under the Competition Protection Act, and violations of this absolute ban are punishable by a fine of up to 10% of turnover. So, figuratively speaking, I have caught the retail chains with documents they provided to me during official inspections – supply prices, invoices showing supply prices and selling prices. And there, for example, butter or fresh milk is being sold with mark-ups of 50%, 80%, 95% and 110%. These are violations,” she said.
According to Manolova, differences in mark-ups put Bulgarian producers at a disadvantage, with foreign suppliers most often receiving preferential treatment.
She also commented on the memorandum prepared by agricultural producers, which proposes limiting retail chains’ mark-ups to 25% and those of processors to 10%. According to her, the chains refused to commit voluntarily to such an agreement. Manolova stressed that the governments of the past 15 years also bear responsibility for the state of the market, having allowed a large share of it to become concentrated in the hands of retail chains.
“Production was also crushed with the involvement of the retail chains. Because arm-twisting – literally twisting the arms of Bulgarian producers – is under way. For the first time, unfair trading practices were listed. For example, making them pay for a store’s birthday, for getting their products into a shop, for inclusion in an advertising leaflet or for television advertising. Pressuring them to cut their prices further and further. For the first time, this parliamentary majority has protected Bulgarian producers from this abuse,” she emphasised.
According to her, the aim is for Bulgarian consumers to receive the same treatment as consumers in Germany. Manolova said that the CCP’s next major task would be to inspect the prices of non-prescription medicines and food supplements:
“First food prices, then medicine prices. I should clarify that we are talking about the prices of non-prescription medicines, because the others, which are on the positive medicines list, are subject to a very complex pricing system. But non-prescription medicines and food supplements also have absurdly high prices. This will be even more difficult, both because of the scale and power of pharmaceutical companies and major medicine retailers, and because of loopholes in the legislation that allow this to happen.”
As an example, she cited differences in the prices of identical medicines in Bulgaria and Greece, clarifying that the comparison was made excluding VAT. Manolova also drew attention to advertisements for food supplements which, in her view, often contain misleading claims about their medicinal properties:
“Online pharmacies and physical pharmacies advertise food supplements that supposedly treat rheumatism, joint pain, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and even cancer all at once. I was particularly struck by turmeric and dandelion, which, according to the advertisements, can universally cure you of all kinds of diseases.”
She said that the CCP had already initiated proceedings over such misleading commercial practices, with fines potentially reaching up to 4% of turnover. Manolova also commented on the upcoming Black Friday sales. According to her, preventive inspections of retail outlets, including online shops, have already begun. She urged consumers to check prices carefully and avoid impulse purchases.
“People are already poor enough for us to allow traders to deceive them and make brutal profits at their expense,” Manolova added.
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