Skopje, 5 March 2024 (MIA) – In a TV Sitel interview on Tuesday evening, Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said he is convinced there won’t be price hikes after the end of the Government’s “guaranteed price” measure, if there are he said the Government would react up until the law banning unfair trade practices is adopted by the Parliament.

Bekteshi said the law would cover over 2500 products, 70-80 percent of which are agricultural and food products sold in the country. The Minister said he expects the law to be adopted on March 11 or 13, after which the Ministry will publish the whole list of products that would be included in the legislation meant to prevent a margin of more than 10 percent in the supply chain of agricultural and food products.

The Economy Minister stressed he is convinced the opposition will also support the legislation in the Parliament, considering, he said, “it is in the interest of consumers and domestic producers that are in some way being blackmailed by certain supermarket franchises”.

He said he doesn’t expect the products which were sold with a “guaranteed price” to receive significant price hikes, despite the fact the measure was in place for six months.

“I’ve held talks with all domestic producers and traders, both wholesale and retail. If there are any abuses during this period until the complete list is drafted and published, and until the contracts between supplies and traders are changed, the Economy Ministry is ready to adopt decisions that won’t benefit certain groups that could be carrying out such abuses,” said Bekteshi.

The abuses, Bekteshi said, will be identified by the State Market Inspectorate “which is doing its job professionally and is monitoring the situation on a daily basis”.

Photo: MIA Archive