Instead of offering real solutions to deal with high food prices, parties like "New Beginning" want to blind the eyes of Bulgarian citizens with laws that we see do not work. In the Parliament, they are preparing another "fog" - while there is talk of populist laws on prices, to put "straw" people with addictions in the CPC to protect the cartels, which are directly related to "New Beginning" and with GERB. This was said by the co-chairman of "We continue the change" Kiril Petkov at a press conference in the National Assembly on the topic of high prices of basic foods, the work of the Commission for the Protection of Competition and the solutions proposed by the party, a reporter for Novini.bg reported. The press conference was also attended by MPs Bogdan Bogdanov, Andrey Tsekov, Ivaylo Shotev and Lena Borislavova.
Have you heard of any sanctions for millions from the Competition Commission recently? The Competition Commission knows very well that the problem is in the entire supply chain - from buyers who crush small producers in the regions, producers who have monopoly positions in the market not only for food, but also for fuel. The CPC is well aware that there are retail chains that use non-market practices, such as obliging a supplier to sell to only one chain, said Petkov.
We propose real solutions - the selection of the CPC's composition for the first time in our history should be made in an honest and transparent manner - by professionals, not "ladybugs" and their mothers. We will propose candidates who will serve as a standard for professionalism. We will insist on the return of the successful practice "Affordable for you", where through a price comparison system, they fall through competition. We will also work on initiatives that regulate the steps from farm to table, he added.
Andrey Tsekov gave examples of huge fines imposed for cartel agreements in European Union countries - one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in Europe was sanctioned with 337 million. euros, and in Spain a cartel of 10 of the largest dairy processors in the country was fined 80 million euros. He gave examples of a number of other sanctions imposed for cartel in European countries.
These examples show that regulators in Europe work regardless of political pressure, investigate all levels of pricing. As a result, significant fines are imposed, which have a real deterrent effect and return prices to normal levels, Tsekov pointed out.
In Bulgaria we have an extremely limited range of initiated proceedings, most of which end with a conclusion that there are no anti-competitive agreements. The fines imposed in most cases do not even reach 1 million leva. No violations are found in obvious cartel practices and in obvious price indicators that exceed prices many times higher than in the European Union. This shows that we have a dysfunctional regulator that works under political pressure and with a political goal, Andrey Tsekov also said.
According to Ivaylo Shotev, the lamb meat market in our country is dominated by two large producers who influence the price by limiting quantities. He noted that in this case there is no intervention from the CPC, as in the case of the tomato trade in our country, which is dominated by three resellers.
In small settlements, agricultural producers are forced to sell their goods to the local monopolist. This is an extremely vicious practice. Why do we all see this, only the CPC does not see it? If we continue in the same way, we will wake up with the same dysfunctional regulators, which will be at the expense of all of us. Bulgarian citizens need a truly functioning and strong CPC, Shotev emphasized.
In 2016 The current composition of the CPC was voted on in the National Assembly without debate, in 25 minutes. For the next 5 to 7 years, personnel with a questionable reputation, without professional experience, who are more likely to be party ladybugs than experts in competition law, pointed out Lena Borislavova.
She gave as an example of such appointments Yulia Nenkova - mother of GERB MP Alexander Nenkov, as well as Hristo Kovachki.
Now there is a rush again, the deadlines have been shortened, and they are all the same for all regulators. Never before has there been such a rush for regulators - so that there is no debate and discussion of the candidacies. We do not want a party quota, but a new approach to the election of the CPC, to have an appropriate deadline for nominations, not just seven days together with all other regulators, to have the opportunity to conduct public control, to present concepts on how the free market will be regulated in a legal manner and to ask questions from the civil sector, business and MPs, Borislavova also said.
In response to a question, Kiril Petkov explained that the 10 MPs from the coalition were absent during the vote in the plenary hall of the National Assembly for the temporary parliamentary commission to establish all the facts and circumstances of Delyan Peevski's influence in the executive and judicial branches, due to personal commitments. Petkov stated that a new request for the temporary committee will be submitted next week and every week until it is adopted.
Every time the committee is submitted, every single one of our MPs will vote for the committee and this will continue. In this situation, all GERB MPs will have to be present in the hall, said the co-chairman of "We continue the change." It was understood from his words that he will monitor which MPs voted "against" the committee and which will support it.