POSITION OF
BULGARIAN INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL ASSOCIATION (BICA)
AND
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MILK PROCESSORS (NAM)
The and the National Association of Milk Processors insist on actions by the state to protect Bulgarian producers, processors and consumers.
Our research shows that over the past year, serious, disturbing and extremely unpleasant trends of artificial price increases have been established, especially in the dairy products category, where the markup on final sales prices reaches 100% and over 100%. In many cases, this has nothing to do with real market conditions or operating costs.
As a result of these practices, Bulgarian consumers are forced to pay unjustifiably high prices for basic goods and paradoxically - in Bulgaria the prices of basic food products are higher than in Austria and Germany, where the standard of living is incomparably higher.
In the current situation, we believe that immediate actions and measures must be taken to protect the principles of the free market, free competition, the interests of both Bulgarian producers and processors, and end consumers.
We at BICA and NAM will support all appropriate measures in this direction. To ensure the sustainability of the decisions, measures should be taken to create conditions for increasing competition, supporting Bulgarian business and adequacy of the market environment.
In order to effectively counteract some unfair practices, it is imperative to strengthen control by the relevant state institutions. This includes coordinated actions between the Commission for the Protection of Competition, the National Revenue Agency, the Commission for Consumer Protection and other relevant authorities.
These institutions are empowered and provided with the necessary resources to carry out in-depth and unannounced inspections along the entire supply chain - from producer to end user. A key aspect of these inspections should be the collection and publication of information for consumer purposes. This transparency will allow consumers and regulators to identify unjustified increases and speculative practices.
The legislative framework largely provides sufficient opportunity to eliminate potential loopholes and guarantee that the rules cannot be circumvented through complex corporate structures or transfer pricing in transactions between related parties.
These measures, combined with enhanced inter-institutional cooperation, will activate the mechanism for regulation and control, which will restore market balance and protect the interests of Bulgarian producers and consumers.
VLADISLAV MIHAYLOV,
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NAM
VASIL VELEV,
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BICA
