Macedonian Market inspectors have found a number of irregularities in supermarkets and it’s possible that they are fined and ordered to close down, said Deputy Economy Minister Marjan Risteski, who is leading the investigation into alleged collusion between supermarket chains.
We have 50 teams on the ground, controlling supermarkets, pharmacies, corner shops. There are irregularities in the labeling of discounted products, determining the profit margins, irregularities in the accounting.
Next week the worst offenders will face fines, and it is possible that some markets will be closed, Risteski said.
There has been in insane increase in the prices of basic necessities in Macedonia to a point that’s cheaper to purchase milk and bread in Berlin, Paris and Athens than in Skopje. Due to complains by the population the Government was forced to act, only to find that all large supermarkets lied that their profit margins were around 30%, in reality they were well over 100%. In addition, the largest chain of supermarket in a very cartel-like fashion colluded together to maintain the same high prices across the board.
