site.btaNational Revenue Agency: Fines Imposed for Unjustified Price Increases Exceed EUR 100,000 as of January 12

Fines imposed by inspectors of Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) on traders for unjustified price increases under the  Euro Introduction in Bulgaria Act exceeded EUR 100,000 as of January 12, according to a report compiled to that date. There have been no appeals against the penalties so far. An updated report on the inspections carried out to date is expected to be ready tomorrow, January 19, said Anna Mitova, Director of the Communications Directorate at the National Revenue Agency, ahead of an inspection following a complaint at a bakery on Ivan Asen II Street in Sofia on Sunday.

“The complaint concerns an increased price of an item in a bakery before January 1 and after that date. It is a bakery, and our inspectors who arrived earlier carried out a test purchase at the food outlet, buying the item in question. It is priced at EUR 1.79, or BGN 3.50, as stated in the complaint, which alleges an increase from BGN 3.00 to BGN 3.50 after January 1,” Mitova said, commenting on the ongoing inspection.

She explained that the next steps are to record the prices at the outlet and request information on what they were before January 1, 2026.

"If any violations are established, a violation report will be issued," she specified.

Asked whether the NRA would sanction a trader again if prices are not reduced after a violation has been established and a fine imposed, Anna Mitova noted that in a market economy the state cannot force traders to operate at a specific price.

"What we are monitoring, together with our colleagues from the Consumer Protection Commission and the Commission for Protection of Competition, is whether there is an unjustified increase in prices. If such an increase is established, we have all the mechanisms provided for in the the Euro Introduction in Bulgaria Act to exercise control over unfair traders,” Mitova noted.