The product codes participating in the “Permanent price reduction” initiative reached 629, while today the Minister of Development, Kostas Skrekas, met with the representatives of the multinationals that were fined for exceeding the maximum profit margin allowed for products that are essential for the human living.

According to his sources Ministry of Developmentduring the meeting fruitful discussions were held with the representatives of the two multinational companies, as a dialogue was held with the aim of better and more efficient service to the consumer public.

In the meantime, the control of another 5 multinational companies continues and press reports indicate that new fines may be announced in the next few days.

Anagnostopoulos: Continuous checks for filthy lucre

All the fines that have been imposed on companies so far, either for fictitious discounts or for unfair profit-making, the vast majority of them have been collected, he told ERT general secretary of Commerce and Consumer Sotiris Anagnostopoulos. He reminded that, according to the legislation, a time limit of 60 days is provided if the companies want to appeal to the courts.

The general secretary stated that the last audit, which resulted in fines of 2 million euros to the two multinationals for unfair profiteering, took place in the last months from summer to September. However, checks continue and are daily and continuous at all market points. It’s not just in multinationals, it’s in retail businesses, commercial businesses, other manufacturing businesses, everywhere, he noted.

Mr. Anagnostopoulos also mentioned that these days 5 multinational companies are being controlled but at the same time smaller Greek companies are also being controlled, while retail businesses are also under the microscope. This is a thorough audit, the secretary-general continued, and businesses will have to explain why they have made markups, and if this is found to be sufficient they will not be fined, but if it is not found to be sufficient there will be severe fines.

Especially for multinational companies, however, as he said, there were some elements that created questions in the control mechanisms, as a result of which a thorough check was made on all their codes. There some irregularities were found which led to the imposition of fines because the maximum profit margin allowed for products which are essential for human livelihood was exceeded.