The Association for Modern Trade (SMT) has asked Prime Minister Rumen Radev and representatives of the relevant ministries for an urgent meeting. It wants to discuss food security and the supply of basic goods. The request is in an open letter received by BTA.

The letter is addressed to Radev and to economy and industry minister Alexander Pulev. SMT represents leading companies in fast-moving consumer goods, meaning the food and everyday items people buy daily.

The retailers want to agree joint action with the state at the meeting: supply chains must not break, and the domestic market must stay stable amid the tense situation in the Black Sea region. The association says that as risks to national security grow, people must be able to count on a stable economy and secure supplies of basic goods.

The letter sharply criticises the Consumer Protection Commission (KZP). SMT accuses it of reading economic and statistical data in a manipulative way and so undermining public trust in retail.

The retailers say the commission's conduct adds tension just when the government is trying to soften the effect of outside risks on the economy. If trust in modern retail falls, the grey economy and speculative practices could gain from it, the association believes.

"We call for a statesmanlike approach and an end to the unfounded institutional aggression that replaces the real problems of the structural deficit in agriculture with populist campaigns," SMT writes.

It also insists that "Modern retail in Bulgaria should be regarded as critical infrastructure". The association says food sovereignty and uninterrupted supplies are the basis of national security.

SMT appeals to the authorities and to business to work together for the economic security of citizens. It wants the meeting with the prime minister and the ministries to be called urgently.