Delyan Peevski's idea to create state-owned Bulgarian food stores in post offices with markups of up to 10% will be submitted between the two readings of the budget. We sought the comment of sociologist Kancho Stoychev, who is a member of the Union "Made in Bulgaria", on the issue.
Stoychev believes that such a line of thinking is correct, but expresses reservations about state ownership. "We have been implementing such measures for 20 years, but now I am skeptical about state ownership, because a corrupt environment will be created," the sociologist pointed out.
According to Stoychev, this issue has already been resolved in the European Union through the so-called cooperative stores, which protect the rights of producers. Italy is a classic example in this regard, where stores are owned by huge cooperatives that stand behind the interests of producers.
The main problem with retail chains in our country is the broken relationship between producer and retailer. The result is that the producer often operates at a loss, while the lion's share of the profit goes to the chains and intermediaries.
Regarding markups in chains, Kancho Stoychev is categorical: "Our laws are good, but we don't have a state to enforce them. There are cartel agreements. The constant promotions in the chains very often hit producers. Producers are robbed and the laws are not respected".
The sociologist emphasizes that Bulgaria is a full member of the European Union and in order to have fair trade in large chains, the "sales political class" must be eliminated.