Bulgarian Retail Chains to Extend Price Freeze of Staple Foods

The 3-month price freeze of staple foods introduced in over 160 stores in Bulgaria will probably continue in the winter in some other form. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The 3-month price freeze of staple foods introduced in over 160 stores in Bulgaria will probably continue in the winter in some other form.

Miroslav Naydenov, Minister of Agriculture and Food, announced Friday that he would hold talks with representatives of the three chains of stores which joined the initiative.

Naydenov confirmed his plans in an interview on Sunday, Bulgarian TV station bTV reminds.

Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister informed that he would meet with representatives of the retail chains which introduced the 3-month price freeze, as well as other retail chains operating on the market.

He insisted that the price freeze had given good results, especially as regards low-income groups.

"People with low incomes, including pensioners, people receiving benefits, and unemployed, rely on these staple foods and consume them on a daily basis," Naydenov commented.

"They have certainly increased their consumption of these products, which are 100% Bulgarian, which means that the production increased," he added.

Under the agreement, three retail chains, the Bulgarian branches of Metro Cash & Carry, Kaufland, and Billa, committed to a price freeze of 10 basic food products for three months, starting August 3.

The price freeze was imposed on bread, milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, yellow cheese, poultry, pork, eggs and frankfurters made by Bulgarian producers.

The products were labeled with special stickers.

The price freeze, which was met with serious opposition from the Made in Bulgaria Union, the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), the right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party, and the left-wing Bulgaria Socialist Party (BSP), coincided with mass inspections of retail chains by the State Agency for National Security (DANS), the National Revenue Agency (NRA) and the Economic Police Directorate.

The joint inspections were aimed at identifying suspected distortions along the producer-processor-trader chain.

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