On February 13th (Thursday), four organizations are announcing a boycott of retail chains and grocery stores, announced at a press conference by Velizar Enchev, coordinator of the initiative and former Ambassador of Bulgaria to Croatia.
These are the Federation of Consumers in Bulgaria, the association "For Affordable and Quality Food", "United Pensioners' Unions" and "The System is Killing Us". The action was also supported by former Ombudsman Maya Manolova. The initiators are absolutely convinced that such a boycott will have an effect effect.
We expect the Bulgarian government to stand behind consumers, not behind retail chains. This will not be a one-time action, said Velizar Enchev. He also read an address from the organizers, which states that in recent weeks there has been a drastic increase in the prices of essential goods. This is a price blow, both for 800,000 pensioners who live below the poverty line, and for the working poor in Bulgaria. Why does the same product in the same retail chain have higher prices in our country than in the same retail chain in Germany, Austria, for example, is stated in the text. Therefore, we declare a nationwide boycott of all these grocery stores in Bulgaria, to follow the example of the Croatians, which led to a reduction in the prices of many grocery products. On February 13, there should not be a single buyer in the stores, to show the merchants that there is an angry civil society that will not tolerate price arbitrariness, Enchev read. "For God's sake, brothers and sisters, boycott and don't buy anything", the address concludes.
Enchev recalled that "BSP-United Left" have already submitted a bill for a ceiling on price increases for basic foods, a similar one has been submitted by "DPS-New Beginning".
Nelly Dimitrova from "The System is Killing Us" recalled that Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov believes that there is no way for direct state intervention in the goods market. This means for us that there is a political umbrella behind these stores, she commented. I call on everyone to get involved for the sake of the poor in Bulgaria, Dimitrova appealed.
Against the backdrop of price pressure, people are exhausted and living in poverty, this leads to a deterioration in the quality of food, and accordingly to people's health, explained Dimitrina Rusev from "The System is Killing Us" why people should boycott stores on February 13.
Emil Georgiev, chairman of the Federation of Consumers in Bulgaria, drew attention to the fact that the Bulgarian consumer is one of the most inactive in the EU. We hope that with this initiative we will reach every Bulgarian manufacturer, through the protest we will put pressure on the government, on the National Assembly, he also emphasized.
According to Petyo Dafinkichev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Pensioners", the most important thing is that pensioners are uniting at this moment through this initiative.
Maya Manolova emphasized that the cause, which is nationwide, has already had its success and it is also expressed in the fact that it is a main topic in the Bulgarian media and social networks. The Facebook campaign is driven entirely by students who support the idea, she noted. The fact is that for the first time a bill on a ceiling on food mark-ups is entering the Bulgarian parliament, it will be considered by the relevant committees and in the plenary hall, the former ombudsman explained. To criticism that such a boycott is not a market measure, she replied that the principles of the market economy have long been "overrun" by the retail chains themselves. According to data cited by Manolova, the trade share of food chains at the macro level is 67%. If calculated, their market share in the places where they have supermarkets reaches 75%. Manolova hopes that if the bill is adopted and a 10% ceiling on food mark-ups is imposed, this will also cause regulators to take action. She explained that this law will not be to the detriment of Bulgarian producers, because the ceiling is on the mark-up, not on prices. Texts were also envisaged that would allow retailers to mark up to 5%.
The government and parliamentary groups should say by February 13 whether they support the citizens' campaign to boycott supermarkets, the former ombudsman insisted. According to her, we can hardly expect correct data from the retail chains on the effect of the boycott, but it is a form of civil pressure aimed at adequate prices in Bulgarian food chains.
The organizers also pointed out that in Croatia, after four boycotts, the state has set a price ceiling for 40 goods.