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Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, promises to be strict with all grocery stores, regardless of their size and market share. Photo by BGNES
Bulgarians in general fear strict sanctions and for this reason fines for grocery stores and supermarkets violating the rules will be increased significantly.
The statement was made by Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, in a Monday interview for the TV channel bTV.
"In the last few days we witnesses violations by large and respected store chains. We will be strict with everyone, regardless of their size and market share," Naydenov warned.
The Minister further announced that he was ready to propose a law for sanctions for stores selling food after the expiration date or returning it to the manufacturer, with fines of BGN 10 000 and closure of the facility in case of a repeat violation, compared to the current BGN 2 000 to 4 000 and BGN 4 000 to 6 000, respectively.
Naydenov voiced strong disagreement with the public and media opinion that the recently established Food Safety Agency is useless, saying its inspectors conducted over 10 000 probes so far, issued hundreds of fines and closed a number of facilities.
Last week several large supermarket and grocery chains – Billa, Fantastico, and 345, were fined for returning chicken meat beyond the expiration date to the producers, which is banned by the law.
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During the first full working week after Bulgaria joined the eurozone, wholesale prices for most basic food items moved upward, according to figures from the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Markets.
Bulgaria is facing a steady rise in basic food prices, a trend confirmed through observations, National Revenue Agency inspections, weekly commodity reports, and the consumer price index for 2025
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The annual campaign for filing personal income tax returns under Article 50 of the Personal Income Tax Act is underway
Two-room dwellings make up the largest portion of newly built homes in Bulgaria, according to data for the fourth quarter of 2025.
The Bulgarian National Bank reported that as of February 6, 2026, the withdrawal of lev banknotes and coins and their replacement with euro cash is progressing in line with the applicable legislation and the operational plans approved for the transition.
In 2024, about 68% of households across the European Union were owner-occupied, a slight decline from 69% in 2023, according to Eurostat data. The remaining 32% of the EU population lived in rented homes, up from 31% the previous year.
Retail trade in Bulgaria continued its strong momentum at the end of 2025, standing out among European Union countries as one of the top performers, according to Eurostat data.
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