Most of them have already ended up in the public coffers fines who imposed it Ministry of Development for profiteering while, according to information from APE-MPE, new findings from the price control on baby milk seem to lead to new high fines.

As the Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas stated to APE-MPE, from the almost 13.5 million euros in fines that were imposed in the last period, more than 50% has already been collected and the rest has been certified to the tax office. The details are expected to be made public in the next few days.

The minister notes that the collection of fines is indisputable, that the controls are daily and scrutinizing throughout the market and underlines that, if necessary, additional measures will be taken for any product categories found to have unreasonably high prices in Greece.

“The government, where it detects dysfunction, does not hesitate to impose fines, and heavy ones, even on large companies or multinationals,” he states.

At the same time, checks on profiteering and misleading discounts continue. Throughout 2023, DIMEA carried out a total of 25,267 checks and imposed a total of 1,865 fines amounting to 13,416,790 euros.

4 measures against accuracy in place – Heavy fines are coming for baby milk

However, because it has been established by the control mechanisms that in certain categories of products there are significant price discrepancies in Greece compared to the rest of Europe, the implementation of four new measures has already begun, gradually:

  • Supplies to supermarkets are reduced and, consequently, lower prices are ensured for the consumer. The total discounts of suppliers in supermarkets are reduced by 30% and the benefit is transferred to the consumer with a corresponding reduction in the prices of these products on the shelves. This measure will be applied to the categories where, according to the Competition Commission, deviations were observed. These products are: detergents, household cleaners, toothpastes, shower gels/shampoos and baby diapers.
  • To prevent unjustified markups, suppliers who increase product prices are not allowed to run promotions on the products they have marked up for three monthss. This measure applies to all products sold in supermarkets. Obviously, for suppliers who hold or reduce prices, promotions for the benefit of consumers are normally permitted.
  • To ensure complete transparency in the supply chain from field to shelf, suppliers are obliged to sell the products at retail at “clean” prices (net – pricing). Only a credit invoice of up to 3% is allowed for product or shipping returns. The measure covers fresh fruit, vegetables and meat.
  • It was imposed ceiling on the companies’ gross profit margin that import, produce and distribute baby milk in Greece. The ceiling is defined as the sum of the company’s operating costs for the specific product category and commercial profit 7%.

It is recalled that the research in two of the four companies baby milk has been completed while continuing for the other two.

According to information from APE-MPE there are findings for which it is expected to be announced heavy fine.

According to the data of the Ministry of Development, the initiatives of the “baskets” and the permanent price reductions have begun to have an effect and it is estimated that, with the new measures, price reductions of up to 20% are expected while, in essence, the unjustified markups.

It is recalled that, throughout the previous period, a package of measures was implemented to tame inflation and to control the market from the phenomena of unfair profit and misleading discounts with the “baskets” and with the “permanent price reduction” initiative. The “permanent price reduction” initiative has included 1,300 products from 100 suppliers that have reduced shelf prices by at least 5% for the next six months, while the “Household Basket” that provides access to certain product categories at lower prices remains in place. prices.

More generally, it is estimated that a period of market adjustment will be required, but the prevailing opinion is that the government’s new initiatives will be adopted without problems and the new offer regime will work to the benefit of the consumer by pushing prices down.

The market’s reaction to the regulatory adjustments is mildly characterized by entrepreneurial factors as, as they comment, the political leadership of the ministry did not “catch” retailers and suppliers. On the contrary, there was an exhaustive dialogue about the new framework that was announced and, in fact, as the general manager of the Supermarket Association of Greece, Apostolos Petalas, has stated, “whatever is good for the consumer and increases their purchasing power is also good for the supermarket, because it increases demand”.