site.btaInstitutions Take Urgent Measures to Prevent Price Gouging with Euro Changeover

The Commission for Protection of Competition and the Commission for Consumer Protection are taking urgent measures to prevent price gouging as Bulgaria is preparing to join the eurozone as of the start of 2026. Details of the planned measures were made public at a joint news briefing, after the first meeting of the two regulators on the topic.

Commission for Protection of Competition Chair Rosen Karadimov said that the key regulatory act with which both the administration and the regulators are working is the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria Act. Its main goal is “to ensure that there is no unjustified increase in prices within the framework of the euro adoption process,” Karadimov added.

The Commission for Protection of Competition, together with the Commission for Consumer Protection and other regulators, will initiate rapid analyses of the critical sectors of the economy: the supply of food, fuel, medicine, electronic services, telecommunications, the financial system, Karadimov said. He pointed out that special attention will be paid to Chapter 7B of the Protection of Competition Act regarding the supply and food chain. The goal being the prevention of deals that will lead to an increase in prices. “In this process, work will be done in partnership with the Commission for Consumer Protection. When we achieve a harmonization and exchange of information, within the limits of the law, and actions are synchronized, the effect will be multiplied,” Karadimov said.

Commission for Consumer Protection Chair, Maria Filipova, pointed out that for the first time, people's rights will be protected not only through the powers of the Commission. “There will be monitoring to ensure that the market is a fair, open and competitive,” she added.

In connection with the Euro Act and the competences of the Commission for Consumer Protection, Filipova announced the Commission is launching a campaign both locally and through all digital channels, aiming to explain the main obligations of traders and consumers in relation to the law. This information campaign is just in time, when the positive reports of the European Central Bank and the European Commission are issued, the digital campaign will begin. After the decision of the EU Council, the local campaign will begin. “It will start a month before the date from which economic entities offering goods and services on the territory of Bulgaria will be obliged to indicate prices in leva and euro, so that people can begin to familiarize themselves with the methods of currency conversion and rounding, set out in the law,” Filipova explained. “The task is to reach 300 settlements in 30 days, to hear all questions, to give answers, so that there is predictability, transparency and clarity,” Filipova said.

“Our ambition is, in contact with other structures, for these meetings to continue to expand, so that at some point all institutions, such as the National Revenue Agency, the Financial Supervision Commission, the Bulgarian National Bank with its coordinating role as key regulator, can unite their efforts to achieve the final result - prevent any speculative increase in prices, justified with the introduction of the euro,” Karadimov said.

Filipova reiterated that the Commission for Consumer Protection possesses the legal tools, in particular the coercive administrative measures under the Euro Act, to stop any attempt by an economic entity on the territory of the country to speculatively increase prices. She said that the sanctions for unfair commercial practices are up to BGN 50,000 for each violation.