Reaction in Parliament: The parties and their visions on food prices

The topic of the supermarkets boycott by shoppers protesting rising foods price was also discussed by lawmakers in Parliament on February 13.

• "For God's sake, brothers, don't buy": There is a 100% mark-up on dairy products

Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB-UDF: "We are a market economy, and the market determines the prices, so everyone has the right to organize boycotts as they wish. That's why regulators are important, this is their job. When politics starts to interfere with prices, it leads to speculation and shortages. This was the basis of the Bulgarian market until 1990, when you needed to have a contact, a close person in order to buy something - whether it was milk for infants, bananas, or oranges."

The position of We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and There is Such a People is similar, as they believe that prices should not be reduced through boycotts, but rather through effective regulators.

Kiril Petkov, from WCC-DB parliamentary group, stated: "There are producers who dominate the entire market, and there are unfair practices in the retail chains as well, but this needs to be addressed through a functioning regulator that investigates all these steps so that the Bulgarian people can have normal prices."

Stanislav Balabanov, deputy chairman of There is Such a People parliamentary group, added: "These institutions will finally do their job, entering the large retail chains to see the extent of the cartel between them and why the prices of goods are so high. I assure you that with functioning institutions, the effect will be much greater."

"Vazrazhdane" is creating a working group that will propose legislative measures to encourage Bulgarian production for Bulgaria.

Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of "Vazrazhdane," said: "In most countries, there is zero or much lower VAT for essential food items, such as meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and butter. We will propose this when tax laws are reviewed and we will include it in the state budget law when it is submitted."

"MRF-New Beginning" and "BSP-United Left" reminded that they have submitted bills to limit the markup on essential food products and are calling for their swift review.

Yordan Tsonev, deputy leader of the MRF - New Beginning group, stated: "No market rhetoric can stop us from trying to halt this brutal price hike. It's not normal for Germany, with 3 to 5 times higher living standards, to have basic food products cheaper than in Bulgaria."

Nina Dimitrova from BSP-United Left party, said: "This bill will protect Bulgarian households from unjustified food price hikes by setting limits on the markups of essential food products, ensuring they are affordable for all Bulgarian citizens."

In the coming days, it will become clear which of the proposed measures will actually be implemented.