While there is public negotiation, discussion and debate about whether to freeze margins again or come up with a new creative idea, suppliers do not stop delivering new price lists. Traders say that because of this, they are selling eggs more expensive (90 to 119 denars for a pack of 10), cooking oil (88 to 92 denars per liter), coffee (87 denars per 100 grams), a can of Nescafe (419 to 498 denars), 660-gram mayonnaise (198 to 250 denars), 100-gram chocolates (65 to 87 denars), milk in a tetrapack (66 to 74 denars per liter), yogurt (85 to 92 denars).

Meanwhile, bakers did not stand still, and they raised the price of white pastries again, so that now an ordinary bagel costs from 30 to 40 denars, and a quarter of a burek is sold for from 80 to 100 denars, etc. Citizens are outraged and believe that the Government has no intention of creating serious measures to calm down traders and suppliers, who in the meantime are only shifting the blame to each other. That all the actions called baskets were in vain was also shown by the data of the State Statistics Service, according to which the cost of living in January of this year, compared to January 2024, recorded an increase of 4,9 percent, and the price index slightly increased by 5,2 percent.

– Two citizen boycotts of the markets have come and gone, and the Government is still debating how to deal with the rampant price hikes. In the meantime, the Prime Minister, the relevant minister and the opposition, traders and suppliers are exchanging poisoned arrows and accusations, but we are still far from any concrete solution – react the citizens with whom "Sloboden Pechat" spoke.

For example, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce calculated that supermarkets operated with extremely low profit margins of 0,83 percent, while manufacturers and suppliers enjoyed significantly higher margins of 4,32 percent, meaning that retailers are not causing price increases. Meanwhile, Vaska Mojsovska from the Farmers' Federation stressed that agricultural producers are not to blame for the price increases in supermarkets, as they sell their products at low prices dictated by buyers. The six-month report from the State Market Inspectorate, however, showed that retailers were found to have over 20 percent margins on basic food products and over 30 percent margins on personal hygiene products, while importers and distributors recorded higher margins, even up to 50 percent!?
And now it is again unknown whether there will be any concrete solution at the new government session, although last week the Government tasked the Ministry of Economy with preparing a Draft Decision to limit margins to 10 percent in retail and wholesale trade. In the meantime, the newly formed Chamber of Small Traders has come up with a counter-proposal to reduce the prices of 100 to 200 food products, hygiene products and baby food.

– At the meeting with the traders, it was agreed that the final decision would be made this week, but the Minister of Economy and Labor is in Qatar – we were told by Besar Durmishi's department.

Danica Blaževska from "Reptile Markets", after the MET meeting, announced that the representatives of the traders and distributors requested a real reduction in the prices of 100 to 200 products, because they believed that this would be better and more visible for the citizens?! That list would include bread, milk, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, as well as hygiene products, and the measure would only last from March 20 to April 20, to coincide with Easter and Ramadan.

SDSM will also save the standard of living

The opposition SDSM announced that it will submit legal solutions to the Parliament as part of the measures that they say will help save the economy and the living standards of citizens.

They add that the previous basket case policies have not yielded results, and the government cannot cope with growing cost of living and poverty.
SDSM has already announced 7 measures, a package of solutions that include: reducing VAT on electricity from 18 to 5 percent, abolishing VAT on food to 0 percent, freezing prices of basic products, fixing margins, increasing wages in the private sector, and implementing the Law on Unfair Trade Practices.