• The Competition Council launched three investigations into the prices of sunflower oil, butter and sugar. It is suspected that there were possible price-fixing agreements.
According to a press release, Competition Council launched investigations into collusion between producers to fix the prices of staple foods, namely the price of sunflower oil, butter and sugar. These investigations target 13 oil, butter and sugar producers.
Bogdan Chirițoiu, the president of the Competition Council, according to the press release, states: "We have suspicions that some producers took advantage of the current economic context, namely the increase in inflation, and agreed to additionally increase the selling prices for some products, thus obtaining higher, undeserved profits. If, following the investigations, we find these kinds of practices, we will sanction them drastically."
A report of National Institute of Statistics regarding the evolution of inflation, finds that oil, butter and sugar are among the foods that have experienced the biggest price increases compared to the previous year. The data provided by the INS show that the first place in the list of price increases is sugar, which experienced a price increase of 63% in January 2023, compared to the same month in 2022. The second place in price increases is butter, with a percentage of 47% price increase. Oil experienced a 34% price increase.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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