Bulgaria’s National Assembly on Friday approved the creation of a state-owned company to operate a chain of grocery stores where the markup on staple foods and other essential products will be capped at 10%.
The proposal, put forward by Yordan Tsonev of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, passed with 117 votes in favor, 102 against, and two abstentions.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food will own the new company, which will work primarily with Bulgarian producers. Lawmakers gave the Council of Ministers one month to take the necessary steps to establish and operationalize the entity, with initial capital set at 10 million levs ($5.5 million).
The move follows approval from the National Assembly’s Budget and Finance Committee earlier this month to create state-owned stores aimed at offering Bulgarian goods at lower prices.
Tsonev said the initiative would shorten the supply chain and help curb what he described as unfairly inflated prices. He noted that similar models exist in countries like Germany and France.