The Commission for the Protection of Competition found up to 135% markup for some basic foods. This highest difference is for mineral water, but drastic markups are also reported for essential products.
In the case of fresh milk - the difference reaches 77% after the manufacturer's discounts. In stores, cheese is sold on average at up to 82% higher price than the one for which it is delivered.
Yellow cheese has a markup of up to 91% Minced meat becomes more expensive by 73% from the producer to the counter, and eggs - by up to 89%.
„It turns out that the CPC is the body that can receive all the information. Because each of the other state bodies has some part of the overall picture. The CPC is the institution that can collect all this data in one place, including from traders, and can show it“. This was commented on “This Sunday“ by the Deputy Chairman of the CPC, Radomir Cholakov.
In his words, this analysis is not about speculation.
“What the commission did in the sectoral analysis of the food chain actually shows a picture of very large structural deficits that did not begin today. This is due, if you will, to erroneous privatization, to spontaneous liberalization at the beginning of the Transition. Spontaneous liberalization always leads to spontaneous concentration afterwards. And in fact, the truth is that the Bulgarian producer suffers the most“, Cholakov pointed out.
According to him, the producer does not receive enough support from the state and is left to his own devices.
“There is no country in the European Union that does not support its producers. There is no country that does not care about local production. And there is no country that has gotten to where it is like the Bulgarian state. We are currently, I don't want to say it so as not to sound too dramatic, but food security is not ensured - to put it politely. We do not produce enough food“, he commented.
“Such traditional Bulgarian industries, which we were proud of in the past and which we continue to be proud of by inertia, such as animal husbandry - the best Bulgarian meat, the best Bulgarian milk, are simply no longer there, or they are in deficit, or let's say, are produced in very small quantities“, added Radomir Cholakov.
“The lack of cooperation, the opening of course to the European market with the very powerful Western concerns that supply companies, puts Bulgarian producers under very strong pressure, external pressure, including internal“, he explained.
According to him, the money from the markups goes to the trader and intermediaries along the chain. He pointed out that certain recommendations have been made, but they are "abstractly formulated".
"In Western laws on the protection of competition, where it is said that concerted practices are prohibited, there is one exception written into the law everywhere, and it is an exception for the agricultural sector", Cholakov commented.
He pointed out that sectoral analyses highlight certain areas in which it will be carefully monitored whether there is a dominant position.
„Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has ordered this week to form a working group of the competent ministries and other bodies, which, based on our recommendations, will begin to act and take measures", he explained.
Radomir Cholakov again noted that the problem began in the 1990s, with privatization.