Skopje, 5 December 2024 (MIA) — The government's "New Year's consumer basket" market intervention, aimed at lowering grocery costs over the holidays by marking down prices on some 675 items, will begin on Dec. 15 and last through Jan. 15. The list is available at mojakosnica.mk.

The items will be displayed on grocery store shelves marked with labels saying, "Fewer Costs, More for You, We Care." The 10% markdown was "a consensual solution" between producers, labor unions and retailers, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a press conference Thursday.

According to PM Mickoski, the list of grocery items to be marked down was drawn up together with representatives of the business community and other participants in the supply chain of food products.

"We did something that has perhaps never been done before," Mickoski said. "We talked to each other for some time and during those talks, we came to a compromise."

According to Mickoski, this was not a classic intervention measure through government price control. He said there would be "no punishment," but rather monitoring of whether products would be clearly labeled and visible to citizens during the holidays.

"I expect that we will continue to be socially responsible together in these difficult moments and work together to help the Macedonian citizens, the Macedonian economy, the standard of the Macedonian citizens so there is more for everyone," Mickoski said, adding that he was looking forward to "happy citizens and a full table during the holidays."

In response to reporters' remarks that the "New Year's consumer basket" would include many products retailers had recently inflated the prices of, the PM said the State Market Inspectorate head ought to take note of grocery prices now and check if they were reduced later.

According to Minister of Economy and Labor Besar Durmishi, it made no sense for companies to inflate prices so they could then evade the markdown when it was they themselves who had proposed to mark down some of their products.

As of Jan. 1, Durmishi said, the Commission for the Protection of Competition would inspect if the Unfair Trading Act, which bans unfair trade practices in the supply chain of agricultural and food products, was being complied with.

"The law should be respected," he said, adding that fines would be issued for retailers not honoring the law.

"Some retailers have already told us they cannot implement some provisions of the law due to the problems they are facing on the ground," he said.

The economy and labor minister said their experiences had been taken into consideration and there could be "a small technical correction to the law in the New Year." mr/