Hampartzumyan: I lived in an era when all stores were state-owned and there was nothing to buy inside

"Any idea that is some kind of corrective in the market cannot be dismissed lightly. Even if there are 20, 30 stores and the consumer sees a new level of prices for the same goods - this will be a corrective for all market participants. Just like with banks. Someone cannot give 10% interest, another can give 3% and you can go to the one who offers 10%.“

This was stated on the show "This Morning" by the chairman of the Milk Processors Association, Dimitar Zorov. Along with him in the studio is financier Levon Hampartzumyan.

"Who will control these state-owned stores? Poorly trained and paid officials and, we assume, susceptible to influence"

"There was one bank that gave 10%, while the others gave 3% - it didn't end well. I lived in an era when all the stores were run by the state - there was nothing to buy inside. The idea sounds good, but the implementation is difficult. In America, grocery stores have branches at post offices. The author of the idea, Delyan Peevski, has not been to America, and he won't be going anytime soon. Someone told him so. This example is upside down“, said Hampartzumyan.

For 50 years we lived in a centralized system, when the state controlled prices, and now we have everything in stores, Hampartzumyan illustrates.

People who did not live under communism do not know, but back then in the korekoms there was everything for those with opportunities, and for everyone else there were poor stores.

According to Dimitar Zorov, the market is highly distorted.

"When you hold 60%, 70% of retail trade, this is a dominant position. Currently, market negotiations are very distorted. And some form must be found where Bulgarian producers can have access to these shelves. And most importantly, consumers should have information about normal prices and markups“, Zorov also said.