MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) - In Belarus, there are significant penalties for violating the law which regulates the unreasonable price hikes, which makes such violations costly for the trade facilities, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich told the media after the meeting with the president on 1 April, BelTA has learned.
According to the minister, Belarus has been taking measures on price regulation since March 2020. Council of Ministers' Regulation No.100 and Decree of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) No.83 set marginal trade markups, extra charges for importers, margins for manufacturers, or determine the final retail price. Unreasonable price increases have also been taken under control. “It is quite costly to violate price legislation because the penalties are big. We can see that violations [which are committed] are not based on abuse, but on the ignorance of the law and mistakes. Therefore, our task is not only to punish but also to make public the fact of any violation, so that there would be no repetition,” said Vladimir Koltovich.
According to him, in 2020 fines for violating price regulations made up some Br230,000.
The minister added that he does not think it is necessary to increase penalties to prevent violations by trade facilities. He explained that MART's decision No.83 regulates the trade markup and has no effect on the contract price. The government's decree No.100 freezes the prices of certain types of socially important goods, and the violation of this requirement entails heavy fines.
“We have come to the conclusion in this difficult economic period that price regulation is, most likely, a forced necessity so that everyone involved in the chain - from producers of goods to the store shelf - does not inflate their expectations and play on possible shortages. Decree No.100 stops the final price. We are forced to make decisions on certain groups of goods that are subject to regulation,” Vladimir Koltovich said.
When asked about the impact of price control measures on inflation, the minister said: “Regulation will have an impact on inflation. The subtle issue is to prevent disruptions and deficits. The president stressed that this should be ruled out. In this regard, there is a clause in Decree No.100, which lets solve these issues, like the one related to setting price increases for certain goods if necessary.”
He added that inflation in the country is affected by three factors: the exchange rate, world food prices and inflation in Russia. The growth of food prices in Belarus and Russia has been practically equal – up 7.7-7.8% in 2020, in comparison with 2019.
