„The task I am charged with, taking over the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), is very clear - actions and results to stop the unjustified price increases“, the new chairwoman of the commission Maya Manolova told bTV.
For this purpose, she plans to put up a "board of shame" to shame the stores for the markups they are putting on the products.
„We will also cooperate through a "board of shame" about which stores sell which products significantly above fair value in order to obtain the desired effect – reputational pressure on the chains. In a word – to make them ashamed of the markups“, said Manolova.
According to her, this will happen at the moment when the methodology for fair value is finally adopted.
„I will do everything possible to make this happen as quickly as possible. My task, put in brackets, is fair value, "board of shame" and sanctions that the Competition Commission can impose. These sanctions should be similar to the sanctions provided for in the Law on Protection of Competition – percent of turnover“, the chairman of the CPC pointed out.
She expressed hope that this will happen in the next two months and that by the New Year the CPC's activities to control food prices will have concrete results.
According to Manolova, prices in our country “have been dropped“ since the previous majority.
“The fact is that prices soared even before entering the eurozone. The reason for this is the way in which Bulgaria adopted the euro without sufficient protection for Bulgarian citizens“, she believes.
“The information from other control bodies that there are overpricing of dairy products of 90%, 100%, 140% is eloquent enough. The latest data from “Eurostat“ show that compared to the average European prices, the prices of dairy products in our country reach 142%. Paying more than the average German and French person is obviously unfair“, said Maya Manolova.
“That is why the parliamentary majority adopted a number of legal changes. The task at the moment is for the CPC to implement these legal texts. We will cooperate as much as possible for the final adoption of the fair value“, said Manolova.