Nikola Stoyanov: Within a day or two, the law on the ceiling of surcharges will be uploaded for discussion

Already this week, the draft Law on the ceiling of mark-ups will be published for public discussion, it became clear from the words of the official Minister of Economy, Nikola Stoyanov. In the bTV studio, he assured that on Wednesday or Thursday the draft law will be uploaded.

"We want a cap of up to 10% on the markup for one product from a product group," the minister said, adding that this would be a permanent measure as it is proposed to be valid for 6 months from adoption.

"We are aware that this is not a market measure, but we believe that it is a minimal intervention when it comes to 1 product from a product group," added Stoyanov.

On the issue of the imposition of the "Excess Profits" tax, he noted that as economic minister he listens to the voice of business and expressed hope for a wider debate. "It's not that I don't support the idea, I think there are serious reservations and a wider discussion is needed," he said.

"For me, it is more important that the companies work and be competitive", emphasized the minister.

Commenting on the recently launched website for food prices, Nikola Stoyanov reported that there are more than 10,000 entries per day and that prices are already being held back. "The result is holding prices, but we are chasing a reduction," he said. The site also has a regulatory function, helping the control authorities where to direct their inspections, Minister Stoyanov also noted.

"1,084 inspections have been carried out at the moment and there are a little over 700 violations, 270 are suspicions of unfair commercial practices and many acts have already been issued," he pointed out.

According to the acting economic minister, the sanctions are low and should be increased. "In the Food Trade Act, which we are preparing, we want to greatly increase the fines or in the Consumer Protection Act, since now the maximum act that the CCP can impose is BGN 50,000," said Minister Stoyanov. According to him, if the act is as in some European countries up to 4% of the turnover, then we will see acts of the type of 500 thousand and a million, even in the case of a first violation.

The economy is doing well and despite the negative forecasts, growth is higher than expected, Stoyanov pointed out. However, with political instability and pre-election bidding, social costs have increased a lot, the budget is under pressure and this will be a challenge for the new parliament as well, he noted.

"Now there is a very positive trend - producer inflation is falling", Minister Stoyanov also announced and added that he expects inflation to start falling at a more serious rate.

When asked whether we export weapons production directly to Ukraine, he categorically stated: "Direct export to Ukraine is not permitted by the commission of which I am the chairman."