The Ministry of Development will seek to limit soaring prices by “advertising” the companies that will proceed with price reductions, implementing stricter inspections on prices and announcing the prices of basic fruit and vegetables.
The specific measures were presented during Development Minister Kostas Skrekas’ press conference. Skrekas acknowledged that high prices are currently the biggest problem facing the Greek family. A global and pan-European problem against which the battle will be continuous and hard until it is addressed.
The measures
1. According to the minister, the first measure is the special sign on the shelves of the supermarkets for the products, in which the suppliers will reduce the price by at least 5%, for a period of time of at least 6 months.
In the event that a company falsely declares that it has made a reduction, a fine of at least 20,000 euros/product code will be imposed.
2. Supermarkets with an annual turnover of more than 90,000,000 euros are obliged to notify the Ministry of Development of their suppliers’ price lists and their changes, in order to immediately identify the products in which increases are promoted and carry out immediate and focused inspections.
4. The complaint submission and management system will be upgraded in terms of both the 1520 telephone line and the special website for complaints, while at the same time, a special application (app) will be activated for submitting complaints via mobile phone as well.
For the implementation of the above interventions, there will have to be a legislative regulation, which will be submitted to the Parliament in a short period of time.
Referring to the inspections, Skrekas noted that in 2023, 14,949 inspections have been carried out throughout the country and 5,156,132 euros in fines have been imposed.
