Electricity, water, mobile operators have raised prices since the beginning of the year. Why now and how much longer can people bear these increases. VAT for bread and restaurants has returned to 20%. How will we cope… Bogomil Nikolov from “Active Consumers“ speaks to FACTI.
- Mr. Nikolov, happy New Year, many prices have risen in Bulgaria. Why did it come to this. We are talking about electricity, water, mobile operators…
- I am not sure that many prices have risen. There has simply been a lot of noise around all this. What happened to the mobile operators happened last year, and the year before that.
- Then they justified it with inflation, and now it is low?
- So, so. This is the result of accumulations. I will repeat myself. The mobile operators did this last year, so why not do it now. Here the public debate turned out to be absolutely useless, absolutely unproductive. Yes, we are having some debate, but nothing happened. Let me take you back to the electricity crisis. And last year at this time we were again talking about compensation, how to solve the problem. Now - 13 months later, we are having exactly the same conversation from the same starting positions. We are again talking about VAT refunds for bread and for restaurants. These are two specific things - for bread and for restaurants. Somehow I don't think we should dramatize the situation too much, but we should seek a conversation about these specific sectors. There is something else. The other sectors are also watching what is happening and we should not forget this. If they see now that this trick will work, if they also decide to raise prices - then we will really be talking about a wave. The other sectors will simply start trying - each as they can.
- But how much can people bear. Does this reflect on the budget of each family?
- Look, in this process of raising prices we are also complicit because we do not speak out. With 30% voting and 0% protesting, what can we expect from the authorities. Consumers are strong in front of the TV and social networks. And at the same time, the other side - business, actively lobbying every day. Well, who should the authorities listen to - the citizens who are not there, who have gone into hiding, or the business. If we want something to change, we have to declare it.
- The return of 20% VAT for restaurants caused controversy, and this, after all, was a crisis measure. Covid is long gone…
- Covid is gone, but now they will lose their goodies, their benefits. This is the paradox. Business got used to relief, and consumers did not see lower prices. Now business says that it will raise prices and it will become expensive for you, understandably for consumers, if they do not keep their benefits. And because the government only listens to business, politicians are more inclined to keep the privilege for them. This is some very strange conversation. If we want there to be help for people who cannot afford many things, then let it be through a social program - whether it will be coupons, whether it will be something else, whether it will be vouchers - it does not matter. There should be specific help for specific people, and not to support business and have market interventions. It is precisely these interventions that produce vicious results. They make a profit for business, and not better prices for us - consumers. And politicians, instead of listening to us - the many, listen to those who are better lobbyists. For this, people, citizens, consumers must learn to speak up. Otherwise, politicians will always listen to those who talk in their ear.
- But where are the state bodies that should protect the rights of citizens. Competition Protection Commission, Consumer Protection Commission…
- A very relevant question. The Consumer Protection Commission seems to be the only one left with a regular mandate. All the others have expired mandates. It is the commissions that are supposed to protect the weaker side of the market - consumers. But the heads of these commissions are so hidden in this situation that we no longer even remember their names. I don't remember seeing an interview with any of the heads of these commissions recently. The staff in these institutions has degraded so much. But there is something else - these heads simply have no motivation to work, because they don't know how long they will be in office. And here we should think about whether we shouldn't go a little further regarding these formally independent institutions. Let's think about whether it wouldn't be good for them to become part of the executive branch so that they can be held accountable. What happened now with the electricity crisis. KEVR and the Ministry of Energy were blaming each other for who should have taken care of the transmission of electricity. KEVR said that this was the ministry's responsibility, they should have inspected the networks. When state institutions argue, it means for businesses that they can do whatever they want.