Although the dual circulation period has ended and the euro is now the sole legal tender in the country, traders should keep in mind that the dual pricing period for goods continues until August 8. This was stated by Vladimir Ivanov, Chairman of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Markets and Chairman of the Coordination Center to the Euro Mechanism during the regular briefing of the body in the building of the Council of Ministers in Sofia.
According to Ivanov, the euro is now the only legal means of payment in our country, respectively, all payments are made only in euros. He pointed out that there is enough time for citizens to exchange the leva they have, as banks will provide this service free of charge until the middle of the year, and in the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) this will happen indefinitely.
“Dual pricing will be in effect until August 8. All traders should keep in mind not to remove labels, so as not to unintentionally violate the law,” said Ivanov.
He cited BNB data as of January 30, that 7.7 billion leva are in circulation in our country, which represents 75 percent of the withdrawn cash circulation as of the reporting date.
“The process is going at a very, very good pace,” he said.
Ivanov pointed out that for the period January 5 - January 31, “Bulgarian Posts” performed 92,200 currency exchange operations with a total value of 145 million leva.
Ivanov urged traders and citizens not to accept post office branches as banks, but to turn to the banking system, as commercial banks are sufficiently “combat-ready” to handle the entire traffic. He expressed gratitude to “Bulgarian Posts”, stressing that in practice they are currently engaged in activities that are not typical for them.
Regarding the inspections carried out by the Consumer Protection Commission, he announced that in the period January 22-29, 288 inspections were carried out, with 10 violations found, 7 acts establishing violations were issued, 1 penal decree, and one agreement was concluded.
The most frequent complaints are related to incorrect currency conversion and unjustified price increases.
As of January 28 this year, the National Revenue Agency has carried out over 6,000 inspections, with 350 acts establishing violations issued and served, 70 penal decrees for property sanctions totaling 192,675 euros.
The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency carried out 215 inspections in the period January 26-30, Ivanov pointed out.
From the beginning of the year to January 29, the Ministry of Interior has identified 78 cases of attempted use of counterfeit, including requisition euro banknotes, Ivanov further explained.
Vladimir Ivanov specified that additional police presence will be provided during the next period of pension distribution, in order to guarantee the peace and security of citizens.
Ivanov specified that the process of single circulation, which has been in force since the beginning of February, is going smoothly, almost without complaints, and that euro circulation is well secured.
Regarding the prices of basic food products from the beginning of January to the present, an increase in the price of the consumer basket of 3 euros is recorded - up to 56 euros. According to him, this is due to a rise in the prices of some fruits and vegetables and, to a small extent, to an increase in the prices of dairy products such as kashkaval, cheese and butter.