The Growth of Food Prices in Bulgaria is Unreasonably High

Food price growth is unreasonably high. This is the conclusion of the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) after a comparative analysis of the costs of all participants in the supply chain.

The regulator states that there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal practices, including by large retail chains, and they do not rule out the existence of covert agreements restricting competition.

The Commission will additionally check for other non-market factors that lead to price increases.

The CPC has launched several surprise inspections at the offices of companies and their associations related to the production and trade of basic foodstuffs in the country. The actions of the on-site inspection are carried out by employees of the CPC, with the assistance of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after receiving a court authorization from the Administrative Court - Sofia region.

Copies of documents stored on paper, as well as digital copies of documents and correspondence stored on electronic media, will be seized from the companies' offices, according to the CPC.

The forthcoming detailed analysis of the collected documents will show whether there is sufficient evidence to present allegations of infringement of the companies and their associations. In the event that these are presented, the respondent enterprises will have the opportunity to exercise their right of defense. After the completion of the procedural actions on the file, the CPC will issue a final decision on the proceedings.