Food Prices in Bulgaria: 100% Discrepancy!

A scandalous discrepancy between official prices and the real cost of food products has shocked Bulgarian consumers.

The sharp discrepancy, reaching 20, 50, and even 100 percent for some goods, was signaled by Violeta Ivanova, deputy director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research at KNSB, to the Bulgarian National Radio.

"The difference for yogurt is 30%, while for cheese it reaches 70%"

stated Ivanova. This, according to her, is a clear sign of unfair market practice, a classic example of a cartel.

"Unmarket-like, unfair behavior that has existed and prevailed for years"

she emphasized, highlighting the long-standing problem of manipulating food prices in Bulgaria.

Ivanova pointed out that the price difference between large and small retail outlets is within 12-13%, with higher prices in large stores. Regional price differentiation is also observed, she added.

KNSB monitors the prices of 21 essential goods, 20 of which are food products. The union's analysis shows a price increase of basic food products by over 10% in June this year compared to the same period of the previous year. In July, a certain slowdown in the rate of price increases was registered, typical for the summer season.

Over the past two years, KNSB has conducted a comparative analysis of food prices in Bulgaria and other European Union countries.

"The price of milk, cheese, and eggs in our country is 26% higher than the European average"

explained Ivanova, highlighting the paradoxically high prices compared to countries with significantly higher average wages.

The social consequences of this situation are alarming. With the minimum wage, the small consumer basket of 20 goods can be bought only 9.7 times in Bulgaria, unlike 32 times in Germany, 17 in Romania, and 22 in Spain, according to the data presented by Ivanova.

The concern is even greater given the fact that 30% of the Bulgarian population is at risk of poverty, emphasized Ivanova, leaving an ominous aftertaste of anxiety for the social well-being of a significant part of the population. The situation calls into question the accessibility of basic food products for a significant part of Bulgarians and raises questions about the necessary measures to protect consumers from unfair trade practices.