Macedonia’s State Market Inspectorate has found that several major supermarket chains increased their gross profit margins by between up to 5 percentage points in just one year. Under Macedonian law, such findings should trigger formal enforcement measures, including official decisions, corrective actions, and financial penalties. Instead, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced that the identities of the companies would remain undisclosed, saying he would “address the issue directly” in private meetings with them. Why have institutions when you have Mickoski, he will have a cup of coffee and will take care of it.
In any functioning democracy, inspection findings are followed by transparent legal action—not closed-door conversations between politicians and business owners. Regulatory violations should result in documented decisions with legal consequences, not confidential negotiations. Keep in mind, Macedonia has the highest food prices across Europe. Milk, cheese, meats are more expensive in Macedonia than Germany, Italy, Austria…
The figures cited by the Prime Minister himself reveal the scale of the problem. Profit margins that stood at around 10% last year have reportedly risen to between 12% and 15% today. While this may sound like a modest increase, it actually represents a 20% to 50% jump in the margins themselves which Macedonians have repeatedly complained about. Applied across hundreds of everyday grocery items, these increases place a significant financial burden on ordinary households, transferring millions from consumers’ budgets into the profits of large retail chains.
The government has also acknowledged that reducing these excessive margins would significantly lower inflation, effectively admitting that rising food prices are not simply the result of global economic pressures but are being driven by domestic profiteering. Despite this, no meaningful action has been taken, like always.
While supermarket chains continue to report strong profits, citizens struggle with the rising cost of living. Although the Inspectorate identified irregularities, no penalties have been imposed. The Competition Protection Commission, which is responsible for investigating anti-competitive practices and possible cartel behavior, has remained largely absent from the process. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy has postponed any meaningful response by promising reports weeks later.
Rather than allowing the relevant institutions to enforce the law, the Prime Minister has positioned himself as a self-appointed private negotiator with the companies involved, despite having no direct inspection or prosecutorial authority. This creates the impression that legal procedures are being replaced with informal political arrangements, where official findings produce no real accountability.
The question is no longer whether the state has the legal tools to limit excessive profit margins or sanction retailers that exploit consumers—it clearly does. The real question is why the government refuses to use those powers. Many critics argue that the lack of enforcement reflects political choice rather than legal limitation, suggesting that the interests of powerful retailers are being protected instead of the interests of Macedonian citizens.
