site.btaOrganizations Call for New Boycott of Supermarkets on February 20

Several organizations have called for a new nation-wide boycott of supermarkets and large food chains on February 20, said Velizar Enchev, coordinator of the initiative and former Bulgarian ambassador to Croatia. Enchev said that there is no information from the Finance Ministry about the effect of the previous boycott on February 13, and called for it to be made public. 

"Next week, on February 20, we are holding a new boycott. It will last for 24 hours in coordination with our Greek friends, who on February 19 are holding a mass boycott of everything - from the electricity grid to traffic and of course retail chains," Enchev said.

The initiators invite all Bulgarian citizens to shop only in small groceries on February 20 and to buy goods from Bulgarian producers to support Bulgarian production and Bulgarian business.

According to Emil Georgiev, chairman of the Federation of Consumers of Bulgaria, the previous boycott initiative was successful because it "fanned the flames of consumer discontent".

Dimitrina Ruseva from the civic initiative "The system is Killing Us" said that the voice of the people and consumers must be heard. She commented that the association joined the civil discontent because of the lack of interest on the part of the government to the problems of consumers. "Until something real is achieved, we intend to keep the fire burning," she said.

Maya Manolova focused on the markups of basic food products, which she said should be regulated by a law passed by Parliament. MPs should decide whose side they stand on – on the side of their constituents or the side of the chains, she said.

Commission for Consumer Protection Chair Maria Filipova called on retail chains and other economic operators that trade in food products to submit without any delay  information requested in connection with an inspection that the Commission has launched regarding prices, it transpired from a statement.

Andrey Velchev from the Association For Affordable and Quality Food said: “We have invited all parties. We have invited representatives of the chains, who have so far neither confirmed nor refused to participate. We believe that the debate can solve the problem instead of aggravating it."

The initiative is supported by the United Union of Pensioners, the National Initiative The System Is Killing Us", and the Federation of Consumers of Bulgaria.