Menu
In a video posted on his Facebook account, Mr Orbán said in the interest of curbing unjustified and extreme price increases, in the last few days, the government conducted negotiations with the representatives of supermarket chains.
“Regrettably, the offers of supermarket chains fell far short of our expectations, and therefore, we were compelled to introduce measures in relation to trade,” he said, adding that from mid-March, in the case of 30 basic foodstuffs, the profit margins of traders may not exceed 10 per cent.
Mr Orbán explained that recently, these profit margins had been 40 per cent in the case of eggs, and more than 80 per cent in the case of butter and sour cream, respectively; “let’s face it, this is unacceptable.” In the case of all foodstuffs where profit margins have gone through the roof, prices will have to be reduced in such a way that the consumer price will not be allowed to exceed the procurement price by more than 10 per cent, and this will be monitored, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister underlined that these measures would be introduced effective from mid-March, and would be kept in effect until the end of May. “We will review them then, and if necessary, we will extend them. We will put an end to extreme and unjustified price increases,” he stressed.
In a post under the video, Mr Orbán listed the foodstuffs concerned: chicken breast fillet, chicken legs, chicken rumps, chicken wings, whole chickens, turkey breast fillet, UHT milk (1.5 per cent fat content), UHT milk (2.8 per cent fat content), ESL milk (1.5 per cent fat content), ESL milk (2.8 per cent fat content), vegetable oil, margarine, pork lard, butter, all-purpose flour, pastry flour, potatoes, granulated sugar, pork legs, pork loin, pork ribs, side of pork, eggs, sour cream, Port Salut, cow’s curd cheese, plain yoghurt, fruit yoghurt, garlic and the cold cut ‘párizsi.’
