The first results of checks by the Consumer Protection Commission (KZP) show one retail chain is selling butter at a 125% markup and some dairy products at 100% or more. The commission's new chair, Maya Manolova, told BNT about the findings.

In the same chain, butter has the highest markup of the five products checked. Yellow cheese (kashkaval) is marked up by as much as 99%, fresh milk by 99% and white brined cheese by 95%. Some vegetables carry a markup of more than 100%. Manolova defines a markup as the difference between the price the shop pays for a product and the price it charges.

KZP has had the results of checks done up to the end of the working day on Friday. It will present them in detail at a briefing next week.

Manolova cited Eurostat data showing that dairy products cost Bulgarians more than anyone else in Europe. Butter and fats in Bulgaria cost 142% more than the European average, and dairy products more than 123% above it.

Manolova said the government reached out to the chains with its "Basket with Care" initiative and gave them a chance to bring down their own prices, but they refused. She said the commission's fight with the chains is still to come.

Manolova believes the chains charge such markups because the law lets them. KZP can only penalise unjustified price rises, so she says the answer lies with lawmakers.

When she took office, Manolova made commitments to prime minister Radev, and the biggest of them is about prices. KZP is now checking fuel prices at petrol station pumps, food prices in the chains and bank fees across the country. Three chains have already been fined a total of €95,000.

Working with the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BABH), inspectors checked where goods come from and found that second- and third-grade Greek potatoes had been repackaged. The commission has also filed class actions against private gardens over unfair contract terms.

KZP is handling about 12,000 consumer complaints about goods and services in various sectors. When the checks began, the commission said it was receiving a steady stream of reports of price rises for basic foods.

Checks on telecoms are due, and action against retail chains, petrol stations and banks continues.