Sofia, August 5, 2025 — Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has escalated its ongoing sectoral investigation into the essential food market, demanding additional pricing and sales data from retail chains amid rising consumer concerns over food price inflation.
Retailers are now required to submit detailed information covering sales volumes, retail prices, and promotional campaigns for key staples—milk, cheese, yellow cheese, eggs, oil, flour, bread, meat, minced meat, and mineral water—for the period July 21 to August 4, 2025.
Promotional activity data is required for a slightly narrower window, from July 21 to August 3, 2025.
In a further step toward market transparency, the CPC is also seeking projected prices for the same products for the period August 5 to 15, 2025, alongside a declaration of which food items are expected to undergo price increases, and by what percentage.
The sectoral analysis aims to determine whether recent spikes in the prices of essential food commodities are economically justified or the result of potential anti-competitive behavior, including cartel agreements or abuse of dominance.
According to the CPC, if evidence points to violations of Bulgaria’s Law on Protection of Competition (LPC)—specifically Articles 15 and 21—or the relevant EU provisions under Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it will initiate proceedings and may impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s total turnover for the previous financial year.
The move underscores regulators’ growing concern that structural or coordinated practices in the retail sector may be contributing to unjustified price hikes at a time when inflationary pressure on Bulgarian households remains high.
The CPC did not name the specific retail chains targeted but emphasized the importance of full and timely cooperation to ensure a comprehensive assessment of market conditions.
Source: https://www.cpc.bg/news-431
