The Commission on Protection of Competition has cancelled the Ministry of Economy’s initiative “Available to you” which aimed to lower the prices of around 50 products from the small consumer basket at chain stores.
The initiative was supposed to have been launched on 1 November. According to the regulator, the initiative will result in restricting price competition among traders and is a violation of the constitutional principles of free economic initiative. The Commission is recommending “providing individual food packages and a warm lunch” as a way of coping with the increase in prices.
“The initiative is good, it is European and does not distort competition in any way, but it is very much delayed – by one year,” Assoc. Prof. Ognyan Boyukliev from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ Economic Research Institute commented for the BNR. “It is a good thing there will be no price caps. Price caps were put in place in Hungary that have already been done away with because they led to shortages,” Assoc. Prof. Ognyan Boyukliev said.
The Ministry of Economy said that they would not give up the initiative aimed at achieving better prices for consumers. "We have created a basis for competition between the various participants in the initiative for these 50 essential products," Minister of Economy Bogdan Bogdanov said in a televised interview. According to him, talks on the topic between the ministry and the Commission for the Protection of Competition are forthcoming.
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) will maintain its conservative monetary policy, central bank governor Dimitar Radev told Politico. I lead one of the more conservative central banks and we have no intention of changing this course, Radev was quoted as..
Between 50,000 and 70,000 foreign workers may be included in the Bulgarian labor market by the end of the year , according to estimates by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. This was announced by Minister Borislav Gutsanov before the relevant..
The transition and accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU are important because the largest Bulgarian national minority is located there, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov in Odessa. He participated in the fourth Ukraine-Southeast..
Bulgarian mother Mika Koleva and her children were forced to leave Northern Ireland after her home in Ballymena, County Antrim, was attacked by..
Only 6% of Bulgarians lead a healthy lifestyle, according to a sociological survey conducted by the Research Center Trend, commissioned by the Health..
Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency has announced that environmental activists have withdrawn their complaints and terminated the cases related to the..
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Partly cloudy, chance of rain
Clear