site.btaPM Radev: Continued Rise in Food Prices, Declining Purchasing Power Require Measures

The continuing rise in food prices and the decreasing purchasing power of Bulgarian citizens is becoming a real challenge that requires adequate and timely measures, said Prime Minister Rumen Radev during a meeting at the Council of Ministers on Thursday.

The meeting focused on government measures to curb price increases, ensure pricing transparency, tackle unfair trade practices and protect Bulgarian producers and food quality. Ministers, representatives of regulatory and oversight bodies, nationally representative trade union and employer organizations, and agriculture and food industry groups attended the discussion.

Prices depend on a range of global factors, including energy, fertilizer, electricity, transport and insurance costs, which we cannot influence and which are not the subject of today’s discussion, the prime minister said. At the same time, food prices also depend on national factors, including conditions for domestic production, the structure of supply chains, fair relations between producers, traders and consumers, and the presence of unfair trade practices, Radev added.

He said price levels depend on the scope for developing domestic production as well as clear regulations and control mechanisms.

Radev said key bills had already been introduced in the National Assembly, drafted on the basis of successful European policies to protect competition and combat unfair trade practices. He said the state would not interfere in the market by setting prices or conditions.

“It is clear to all of us that whatever we do, price stability and the availability of fresh products depend on strong Bulgarian production in sufficient quantity, quality and variety,” he added. He said reports from the Commission for Protection of Competition and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food were highly alarming.

Radev said strong domestic production was a matter of food security, sovereignty and national security. The prime minister said it was a government priority, but achieving it depended on many factors, including conditions for cooperation, irrigation, short supply chains, quality control, and the balance between imports and domestic production.

He said today’s meeting marked the start of an open, constructive dialogue aimed at ensuring fair prices in shops.