“Today, the corresponding ministerial decision for the Lenten basket will be issued, which will include frozen seafood, shells, ointments, halva and all the products a household needs for the Lenten table”.

This is what the Minister of Development, Kostas Skrekas, said while speaking to MEGA about the revaluations, accuracy, profiteering and the government’s measures.

“We are moving to another stage, I would say with a series of actions, e.g the permanent reduction in prices, the household basket, the constant controls against profiteering. Yesterday they had an effect because we imposed a fine of 742,000 euros on a company that violated the law. When we see that the profit margin is bigger then we come and intervene. Checks are made against profiteering and companies then reduce products in this category. We control the profit that a company adds to a product to resell it to the supermarket. If that profit margin is greater than 2021, we double that difference and impose the penalty. Violators are identified and fines are imposed which are announced, this has a deterrent character, and we see that it has an effect. Delinquency has decreased, and secondly, the companies that have already been found to be illegal, are forced to reduce the prices on the shelves”, said the minister and added: “In addition to the controls, which are not communicative or transitory in nature, we have proceeded with a set of measures which aim to stimulate competition and support the consumer”.

For Lent he said: “Today, the corresponding ministerial decision will be issued for the Lenten basket, which will include frozen seafood, shellfish ointments, halva and all the products a household needs for the Lenten table. The prices of products, especially imported ones, are determined at an international level and are not set by Greece. Prices depend on supply and demand. In all the previous years there was a commercial behavior of the companies that every year led to an increase in prices on the shelf. We this twisted unfair trade practice went to break it and change it with deep structural measures. what we obliged the suppliers to reduce by 30% the discounts to the supermarkets and pass this benefit directly to the consumer. This measure has paid off, we’ve seen 3,900 products have their shelf price reduced and their offers even more affordable.”

He continued for 1+1 products saying: “We said to reduce the inflated prices, the virtual ones, and to make 1+1 on the new reduced prices. The measures we implemented from March 1 were voted for by 3 parties, which means they were good and structural.”

Among other things, the minister referred to the increase in meat in recent years. “This can happen for many reasons, for example the increase in food. Supply and demand gives the direction for price formation. Production is reduced by 40% in some sectors. We will not stop having measures for accuracy and obscene profit.”