The Competition Council is investigating the reasons for the rise in the price of vegetable oil.
According to the agency, the Competition Council is conducting an important study of the grain and oilseed marketing and processing market that found significant increases in the retail price of sunflower oil in early May. The Competition Council (CC) has requested relevant documents and information from the sunflower oil producer to clarify the issues associated with this increase. The CC notes that in case it finds any signs of violation of the antimonopoly legislation it will initiate an appropriate investigation. At the same time, the CC draws attention to the fact that the occupation of a dominant position in the market is not in itself incriminated by the Law on Competition: it is not the occupation of a dominant position that is punished, but the abuse of such a position. Accordingly, in case of actions provided for in Art. 11 of the Competition Law (for example, setting inflated prices by a company that has a dominant position in the market), the Competition Council will be able to apply sanctions for violations. It is worth noting that during the last 7-10 days the cost of sunflower oil in Moldova has increased by 25-30%. For example, a bottle of unrefined sunflower oil of 955 ml. has risen from 36-39 to 48-50 lei. According to the national bureau of statistics, in March the prices of vegetable oils in Moldova rose by 5.7% compared to February and by 22.8% compared to March of last year. In February 2022, vegetable oil prices went up by 0.1% compared to January this year and by 24.5% compared to February 2021. // 11.05.2022 – InfoMarket
