Skopje, 30 January 2025 (MIA) - Based on the testimonies of the citizens, some producers, distributors and markets are using tricks and these tricks have led to increased prices for some products, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in answer to a question by VMRO-DPMNE MP Bojan Stojanoski at a Q&A session in Parliament on Thursday.

The Prime Minister said the Government wouldn’t allow “individuals to abuse their positions and profit off of the backs of the citizens”.

“The situation we inherited is alarmingly cataclysmic. There are different ways of dealing with the challenges, capping prices, capping profit margins, capping distributor margins... The first thing we did is implement the law banning unfair trade practices. We spoke with producers and the economic chambers to avoid implementing offensive restrictive policies, and to instead have a consensual approach, as a result of which we created the New Year’s consumer basket,” Mickoski said.

Miickoski accused “some of the producers, distributors and markets” of using “tricks” that have led to increased prices on certain products.

“Some producers tried to justify this by saying prices on the exchanges have risen, but we checked and saw that this isn’t the case. Through our analysis of the consumer basket we concluded that perhaps this campaign should be expanded, because it seems we forgot the pharmacies, the pensioners are right to be dissatisfied. This campaign will receive its second half and I urge the owners of pharmacies to consider this, and there will also be a third half with white goods chains,” Mickoski stressed.

The PM said the Government is planning to reduce parafiscal charges in the coming period to influence a drop in prices.

Photo: MIA