Skopje, 3 April 2023 (MIA) – Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi said Monday he believes that retailers will fully comply with the price caps on fruit and vegetables.

 “I am convinced that our retailers will fully comply with the measures and based on the experience of the past two-three weeks, over 90 percent comply with the measures, especially the large supermarkets, since this is a measure that is valid for 25 days,” said Bekteshi in answer to a journalist’s question on how they will control whether the measures are being respected.

Regarding the 25-day validity of the measure, Bekteshi said that this is because the country is fully reliant on imports.

 “We don’t have domestic production, and we are almost fully reliant on imports for most of the products. Especially from Greece and Albania, and of course we shouldn’t leave room for such markups. Our domestic products will become available from the end of April, the beginning of May” said Bekteshi.

Asked on how they will control the prices based on the quality classification of products, in order to avoid “paying for first class products, while receiving second or third class,” Bekteshi said that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Veterinary Agency should explain this. 

 “These decisions were adopted in full alignment with and support of the Ministry of Agriculture. Our task, as the Ministry of Economy, was to carry out analyses of the average price during March, the import costs, trade margins, whether certain margins are being respected or not. When it comes to the quality of the produce, you should turn to the Ministry of Agriculture or the Food and Veterinary Agency. I am convinced that once our domestic products are placed on the market, these prices will drop even further by 30, 40 percent compared to what we have set today,” said the Minister.

The Government adopted a decision Monday capping the prices of 11 types of fruits and vegetables. The decision, which covers tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, cauliflower, pepper, beans, lentils, bananas, oranges, tangerines and lemon, will be valid from April 5 until the end of the month.

According to Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi, the price of tomatoes will be capped to Mden 70, cucumbers - Mden 75, onion - Mden 60, cauliflower - Mden 70, pepper - Mden 90, beans - Mden 75, lentils - Mden 110, bananas - Mden 70, oranges - Mden 55, tangerines - Mden 60, and lemon - Mden 55. ad/nn/

Photo: MIA