Retail Chains in Bulgaria Obliged to Pay Suppliers within 30-Day Deadline

Changes to the Competition Protection Act envisaging a 30-day deadline for payments of retail chains to suppliers passed second reading in Bulgaria’s Parliament on Thursday.

The amendments were initiated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

A number of proposals of the socialists were rejected, including the controversial concept of significant market power and the requirement that contracts between retailer and supplier be made public, according to Sega daily.

The newly introduced 30-day deadline is also included in an EU Directive.

The legal changes envisage the abolition of a number of unfounded fees imposed on suppliers in exchange for no service, including the so-called “birthday fee”, charged on the anniversary of a big store, and the fee charged upon the opening of a new store.

Bulgarian producers no longer face a ban on selling their output at different prices at different sites.

Commenting on the newly adopted legal changes, Kornelia Ninova from BSP said that many Bulgarian companies had gone bankrupt or had been forced to cut staff as a result of the failure of retailers to pay on time.

She described the conclusive adoption of the legal amendments as success, despite the fact that four years of efforts had gone into it.

Ninova predicted that retailers would not increase prices due to the new provisions.

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