The executive director of the Association for Modern Trade Nikolay Valkanov expressed serious concerns about the government’s recent regulatory actions and legislative changes surrounding Bulgaria’s eurozone transition and market oversight. Speaking to the Bulgarian National Radio, he highlighted mounting pressures on businesses, driven by rushed legal amendments and excessive state intervention.
Valkanov acknowledged that the dual price display, in leva and euro, had been introduced smoothly, and the public was gradually adapting without the initial unease. He also noted that the deadline extension for adjusting cash registers had helped alleviate technical concerns for retailers.
However, he criticized the last-minute amendments to the Euro Law, arguing that such significant legal changes should not be pushed through hastily. The lack of timely dialogue with businesses, he said, generated uncertainty not only within the commercial sector but also among consumers.
In its attempt to clamp down on potential price manipulation during the currency transition, the state, according to Valkanov, is crossing a line. While he agrees that maintaining oversight is important, he warned that the government is overstepping its role, overwhelming retailers with administrative tasks, excessive reporting requirements, and prolonged inspections. The result, he said, is not efficient control but a stifling environment that threatens to disrupt daily operations and staff capacity.
Valkanov expressed particular alarm over the newly granted emergency powers to the Council of Ministers, which now had authority to determine what constituted a “sharp price increase” and respond with measures at its discretion – all without parliamentary approval. He described this development as a blow to parliamentary principles and a serious risk to market stability.
On the state-run initiative “People Shops”, Valkanov was openly critical. He suggested that rather than investing 10 million leva, a symbolic project – such as a socialist-era-style store-museum in central Sofia – would have served as a more meaningful and cautionary reminder of the past, marked by limited choices and goods available only under the counter. For him, reviving such practices is not progress but regression.
He also pointed out a broader issue: society’s diminishing critical view of the state’s actions. In his opinion, the only remaining safeguard for consumers is competition – the freedom to choose among a wide range of products at reasonable prices. That freedom, he warned, is under threat.
Retailers, he cautioned, were being squeezed between state interference and operational fatigue. If this climate of overregulation continues, some may begin to withdraw from the market altogether. The prolonged strain – potentially extending beyond August – could reshape the retail landscape into a less competitive, more restricted environment, with fewer businesses and producers surviving the pressure.
Valkanov noted that while public consultations on the Food Supply Act were ongoing until August 12, business feedback had largely been ignored. In its current form, the proposed law is even more constraining than previous drafts. He warned that such an approach risks triggering a swift infringement procedure by the European Commission.
Calling for a return to reason, he concluded by linking the government’s actions to broader fiscal problems – including falling revenues and rising expenditures. In his words, if the state continues down this path, it may soon find itself with “two chairs on the ground” – losing both control and economic footing. The regulatory spring, he warned, is close to snapping. (Novinite)