site.btaEffective Sanctions for Traders Who Do Not Comply with Euro Act Begin on October 8

Starting from October 8, effective sanctions will be imposed on traders who do not comply with the provisions of the Euro Introduction Act. A grace period, during which institutions only issued recommendations, is expiring. Joint inspections by the Consumer Protection Commission and the National Revenue Agency will begin to monitor compliance. This transpired during a meeting of the Euro Mechanism, convened by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, according to the government information service.

Companies that unjustifiably increase prices without economic grounds will be subject to sanctions, the Prime Minister recalled. Zhelyazkov also said that, according to the law, all 256 major retailers of food, beverages, and medicines with an annual turnover of over BGN 10 million are required to publish daily, in a machine-readable format, price information for staple goods in the consumer basket on their websites. The goal is for this data to be analyzed through the platform Kolkostruva.bg. “We rely on their cooperation in implementing the law,” added Zhelyazkov.

Price monitoring will be based on criteria such as economic justification. For price changes to be considered justified, there must be changes in structurally significant components like electricity, wages, fuel, social payments, or other company expenses. In the absence of such cost-related changes, any price dynamics will be treated as unjustified increases, added the Prime Minister. He further said: “I believe the market currently has enough mechanisms and a fair attitude toward consumers, so that any price increases not based on economic grounds should not be wrongly attributed to the euro.”

On Wednesday, the National Assembly is set to discuss amendments to the Competition Protection Act related to sectoral analyses in the food sector conducted by the Commission for Protection of Competition. “We trust the MPs will act swiftly, as issues related to the proper functioning of the market and the sanctioning of unfair trading practices and distortion of competition must be taken seriously, especially in the coming months, when political pressure may inflate the narrative of so-called price increases,” the Prime Minister concluded.