No Ready Platform Yet for Traders to Publish Prices Under the Euro Law
The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) still does not have a functioning platform where retailers with an annual turnover of over 10 million leva must publish their prices by 7:00 a.m., as required by the Euro Law. The reason is that the final list of goods and services in the so-called “large consumer basket” has not yet been completed.
“I expect that within a month such a platform will be available,” said Stanislav Popdonchev, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, speaking to BNR.
The Problem with the “Large Basket”
According to him, the basket includes too many products, which makes meeting the requirements difficult:
“There are far too many goods in the large consumer basket, and this is a problem. The CPC will create a list and remove some of the products and services. The question is how many goods will be included – a single store offers 10–15 types of cheese, and each in different package sizes. This means publishing a huge number of prices – hundreds of thousands of records daily – and I don’t know to what extent this will be useful for consumers.”
Risks to Competition
Popdonchev warned that publishing prices every day could lead to non-market practices:
“When you make the prices of tens of thousands of items public to your competitors, and when their daily changes can be tracked, the pricing models of individual retailers are revealed. This may lead to undesirable market effects, including cartelization.”
For now, no fines will be imposed:
“Until October 8, the control authorities will not impose sanctions, only recommendations,” he said.
Signal Against Speculation
According to Popdonchev, the law sends a clear message that the state will not allow unjustified price hikes:
“With this law, the Council of Ministers signals that it will not tolerate speculative price increases due to the euro transition.”
Still, he noted that there is tension in the market:
“Consumers and traders alike seem a little intimidated. Price increases may result not only from actual factors but also from expectations. The market reacts to sentiment.”
New Control Mechanisms
Popdonchev emphasized that broader supervisory powers are already in place – for the CPC, the National Revenue Agency, the Financial Supervision Commission, and the Bulgarian National Bank. In addition, the Council of Ministers will be able to take unilateral measures in the event of sharp price changes for essential goods.
As for price changes, the law requires them to be justified by “objective economic factors.”
“If a trader changes the prices of goods or services, there must be objective economic factors. These include external influences on the trader or company, force majeure, and regulatory changes. But the definition also says ‘other,’ which creates uncertainty. The factors must be ‘objective economic’ and documentarily verifiable,” Popdonchev clarified.
