Center for European Policies: Only Commission for Protection of Competition can influence prices in Serbia

The Center for European Policies emphasized on Friday that the forms of the self-organizing of consumers in Serbia, such as the recent boycott of shopping at retail chains, are attempts to influence big market actors due to a lack of reaction from the competent institutions.

That center, as the coordinator of the Work Groups of the National Convent on the EU (NCEU) for Chapters 8 – Protection of Competition and 28 – Protection of Consumers, said that the problem of the extremely high retail prices of certain products in Serbia, enormously high compared to the average income of the consumers or even compared to the much more developed markets of European countries, was primarily a consequence of the undoubtedly present disturbances of competition in the market.

It has been pointed out that the Commission for Protection of Competition is not implementing any measures within its competence that might affect the cartelization of the big retail chains and other forms of competition violation that are present in the chains of purchase and placement of products.

– The only activity of the Commission regarding this was the launching of the procedure against four retail chains, accompanied by a media-attractive campaign of unannounced inspections of their premises in October last year – says the announcement of the Center for European Policies.

It is estimated that the legal authorizations of the Commission for Protection of Competition, including the possibility of setting a measure of protection of competition in the form of paying a monetary amount of 10% of the total annual income realized in the market of Serbia, are extremely high and unique in the legal and institutional system of Serbia.

– This sanction, on the example of only one of the four retail chains in that procedure, could amount to up to RSD 15 billion, which speaks to its significance and the possibility of impact on all the actors in the market toward stopping the existing forms of competition violation and refraining from such activities – the announcement says.

It is added that such corrective measures are the only efficient way to influence the stopping of the current practice of the infinite retail price increase in retail chains.

Centar za evropske politike Beograd

Komisija za zaštitu konkurencije Srbije

prices in stores

protection of consumers