“I have emphasized from the first moment that we will do everything and we are open to any serious and positive proposal to put a brake, especially on prices of food and basic necessities of life. From the first day I had asked the representatives of industry and supermarkets to contribute with acts of social responsibility” the Minister of Development emphasized while speaking to Dimitris Oikonomou and Akis Pavlopoulos on SKAI 100.3 radio Takis Theodorikakos.

Regarding the meeting with the New Democracy MPs, the Minister of Development said that “I requested this meeting, although I see the MPs every day and my door is open to everyone. The MP represents the people, so I find time every day and meet them. We work with everyone.

Why did I do this? Because on Monday afternoon at 18:30 I present with the participation of the prime minister of the country, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the proposals, strategies and policies for the productive reconstruction of the country. I wanted first to have a meeting with the deputies to know their views. In this part, sympathy and support are powerful.”

He also emphasized that “they raised a number of issues, I asked for their suggestions and I even told them that I am determined to do whatever it takes for the producers to enter the popular market. I want to discuss with the Regional Governors to find ways to bring the producers to the public markets and to strengthen the possibility of direct access of the citizens to the products of the producers. The motivation is the interest of society and we will do whatever is necessary.”

Mr. Theodorikakos also mentioned that since the summer the price situation is better. From May to August prices were 1-2% lower on average compared to last year. “Day after day, week after week, month after month we fight. We are fully aware of the market.”

He even made special reference to school basket saying that it worked very well and the prices were 10% lower than last year. “We want this to work across a wider range of products. It concerns everything, both food items and basic living items for every household,” he added.

The Minister of Development also said that we are on a trajectory where the problem of the continuous increase in products has been collected and we have stopped the large volume of increases. The aim is to continue a de-escalation of prices through both social responsibility and market controls.

Mr. Theodorikakos emphasized that the battle is daily on all fronts and that a major check is underway on the 26 large companies that are checked in 2,500 codes, to see if they have exceeded in relation to December 2021. He wants time to finish the check, it’s a huge amount of data, but it will have an effect.

He even mentioned oil, stressing that it has increased 60% since last year and recorded 2.4% in food inflation. The main reason for its big increase, he said, is that in Spain, which produces half of Europe’s oil, there was a terrible damage and prices shot up. This year, things seem to be going well, but we are waiting for the oil to be harvested smoothly and it will be shelved later when that oil is processed and marketed.