Retailers in Bulgaria Under Fire as Euro Adoption Sparks Unjustified Price Surge

With Bulgaria’s recent adoption of the euro, early signs of price manipulation and unfair practices by retailers have emerged. Bogomil Nikolov from the Active Consumers Association highlighted several concerning cases reported by viewers during his appearance on Nova TV.

Bread and Pizza Price Surges

One striking example involves “Franzella Simit” bread (300 g), sold by a major retail chain. On December 31, 2025, the bread cost 0.89 leva (€0.46), but by January 2, 2026, the price had jumped to 1.19 leva (€0.61), a 33% increase in just two days - an adjustment experts consider difficult to justify.

Even more extreme was an incident with a pizza order. The restaurant listed the price as 18.75 leva, yet the euro conversion came out as 36.67 euros - nearly double the correct value based on the official exchange rate and four times the real leva equivalent. Nikolov noted that while this may have been a technical error, it underscores the need for consumers to remain alert.

Household Goods See Drastic Price Hikes

Reports from viewers also showed large increases in online retail prices for household items. A storage box priced at €5.23 on January 1 jumped to €10.22 the next day, while another model rose from €12 to nearly €24. Nikolov described such practices as counterproductive for businesses, warning that customers are likely to avoid merchants who engage in unjustified price inflation.

The law sets clear limits: any unjustified increase can be sanctioned with fines of up to 100,000 leva (€51,100). The affected company explained that their online store had been temporarily suspended from December 29, 2025, at 14:00 until January 2, 2026, at midnight, and physical stores were closed from December 30 at 20:00 until the same date. The firm emphasized that the discrepancies occurred during a planned technical update, which prevented purchases at that time, and that all prices and currency conversions have since been corrected.

Banks and Exchange Rate Irregularities

Consumers also reported problems with banking institutions. One citizen noted that when depositing 1,400 leva into an account after January 1, the bank applied an exchange rate of 1.965 instead of the official 1.95583. Nikolov cautioned that after the euro’s introduction, leva accounts should automatically convert at the official rate, and any deviation could indicate a problem.

Source: Nova TV