The Prime Minister’s letter to the President of the European Commission, the accuracy as well as the government’s measures to control the market and limit profiteering were commented on ERTNews by the Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas saying that “Von der Leyen recognized the right of his letter prime minister”.

As the minister said: “The letter sent by the Greek Prime Minister, which concerns unfair trade practices characterized as territorial supply restrictions, and which are often used by multinational companies to maximize profit between different countries, is the first letter sent by Prime Minister of a Member State to the President of the Commission, Mrs von der Leyen’.

Furthermore, the minister stated that “this means that Greece is once again leading the way in this field, that is, in the effort to protect the consumer, the European and by extension the Greek from the unfair commercial practices of the multinational companies that lead the product prices skyrocket.

He added that the goal is “to protect the consumer, to tame inflation, to de-escalate prices and finally to enable households to face the great problem of accuracy that is plaguing them today” and as he said “the way to deal with multinationals is not something that only one Member State can deal with. Here there must be a central intervention in Europe because it concerns, goes beyond every country, goes beyond every government and many times goes beyond every market”.

The basket in Greece is cheaper than other countries

Mr. Skrekas emphasized, and Ms. von der Leyen also acknowledged that there are many attempts by multinational companies that sell identical products at different prices in European countries, to maximize their profit at the expense of consumers.

Speaking about the consumer’s basket, he said that “in Greece, compared to the corresponding baskets in Romania, Spain, Portugal, France and Germany, it is cheaper on average, so it means that here the measures have begun to pay off gradually” .

Responding to a question about whether the Prime Minister’s letter was sent late as accuracy is being insisted upon, Mr. Skrekas replied: “All this time we are not sitting idly by. Greece has passed a law on unfair business speculation, applies it and imposes fines on multinational companies too, very high indeed, and announces it. These investigations are ongoing.”

He added that “the checks are continuing intensively and in the next period, if there are other findings, we will announce new fines against those companies that violate the Greek law”. He added that the fines are imposed, collected and the companies correct their prices afterwards.

Citizens should try e-katanalotis

Mr. Skrekas, referring to the issue of accuracy, invited citizens to try the e-katanalotis platform that helps consumers buy products cheaper by comparing prices between super markets, saying that they can earn up to 15%.

“The best practice is price comparison and transparency,” said Mr. Skrekas, adding that Greece was the country that immediately took measures and obliged businesses to display the price of the product per unit of measurement in the same font size.

Commenting on a publication, Mr. Skrekas stated that the harmonized index of consumer prices increased by 16.5% in Greece and 23% increased in Europe. “Of course, households suffer and find it difficult. That’s why we are trying to help them with measures, but the problem in Europe is unfortunately similar to Greece and bigger,” he noted.

With reference to the checks on businesses to check for profiteering, the Minister of Development emphasized that “checks are being carried out, there are findings and if it is found that there are violations, fines will be imposed, because our goal is to protect households”. Concluding, Mr. Skrekas stated that “the goal is to have a healthy Greek industry with businesses limiting the profit margin to the limits imposed by law.”