site.btaOnline Platform to Show Minimum and Maximum Prices of Certain Products Being Worked Out, Prime Minister Says

An online platform is currently being worked out which will show the minimum and maximum prices of products, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said on Friday during Question Time in Parliament in response to a question from MP Bozhidar Bozhanov from Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria. Businesses themselves will be obliged to provide data twice a week and every citizen will have access to it, Zhelyazkov added.

The Prime Minister explained that the number and range of goods and services by sector that should be on this platform is yet to be determined. They will be more than those that are in the consumer basket, but the data will not show variations of one product, instead the lowest and highest price of the product in general will be given, Zhelyazkov said.

He also commented on the spikes in prices of some products, saying that the government's analysis is that these cases represent more of a “testing of the waters”, a marketing and pricing strategy as an internal element of the policies of certain companies.

Zhelyazkov gave the example of two companies that “tested the sensitivity of the system in terms of bottled mineral water”. In this case, there was a price hike of over 80%, but the other range of the same water of the manufacturer remined unchanged. “This was a test on the system,” Zhelyazkov said.

He added that the euro as a currency is a universal measure of value, and as such, cannot by itself influence price changes.