Bulgarian Financier Levon Hampartzoumian criticized the effectiveness of state efforts to ease price pressures, commenting on the closure of government-backed stands dubbed “People Shop” offering cheaper goods. In his view, the initiative had limited impact from the outset.
“”People Shop” is not a large-scale scheme. With a budget of 10 million leva, nothing substantial can be achieved,” he said, suggesting that only a small number of employees might have benefited through higher wages.
Drawing comparisons with international practices, Hampartzoumian pointed to models in the United States, where postal offices sometimes hosted small retail shelves, supported through subsidies tied to their broader operations. He also highlighted targeted social support mechanisms.
“In America, the poor receive food vouchers that allow them to buy food, but not alcohol,” he explained, emphasizing that such approaches were more focused and structured.
On the broader issue of inflation, Hampartzoumian argued that solutions exist, though they required time to produce results. He outlined productivity, competition, and strict quality oversight as key factors that helped contain prices.
“High productivity, competition and quality control keep prices low,” he said, adding that strong regulatory enforcement was necessary to counter cartel behavior and artificially inflated costs.
He placed particular emphasis on domestic factors behind rising prices, pointing to market concentration and business practices.
“The internal causes of inflation are greedy traders,” Hampartzoumian stated, explaining that under normal conditions competition should balance excessive pricing.
However, he warned that this mechanism was currently weakened.
“We have reached a point where 70-80% of dairy production is controlled by the same players, giving them the power to keep prices high, the consumer cannot even choose,” he noted, describing the situation as a distortion of competition.
Hampartzoumian also dismissed claims that adopting the euro was driving inflationary trends, saying the currency change had no direct impact on these dynamics. Looking ahead, he argued that the next government must strengthen oversight and limit the influence of dominant market players. While acknowledging that meaningful change may take time, he stressed the importance of beginning reforms without delay. (Novinite)