In Bulgaria we pay more for many food items compared to Europe. The prices of many goods in our country are growing, approaching and exceeding the average for the EU, according to KNSB data.
We buy the most expensive eggs – 10 eggs in our country currently cost nearly 3 euros, while in Spain and France they are 2.40 and 1.65 euros, respectively.
In our country, a kilogram of wheat flour type 500 is 92 cents, while in Spain and France it is about 70 cents.
A kilogram of cow’s cheese in Bulgaria is 9.04 euros, it is almost the same price in France, in Spain its price is significantly less – 6.70.
A kilogram of cucumbers in our country is about 2.52 euros, in France they are cheaper
And this against the background of the big difference in the minimum wage in Bulgaria and the EU average. A monthly income of at least BGN 2,616 is now required for a family of three.
Zlatka and Andrei Semovi have been selling at a stall in one of the markets in the capital for 10 years. They have a son in third grade.
They claim that even a total monthly income of BGN 2,616 for a three-member family, which is necessary according to the latest data of the Central Bank of Ukraine, is not enough to live normally.
“To support one student, we need between 4.5 and 6,000 BGN, because just for the student, we need about 800 BGN per month to pay for the chair and his daily expenses,” says Andrey Semov.
“My wife and I don’t have a social life to provide everything necessary for the child,” he adds.
“We are cutting costs. We are making restrictions – less of everything, says Zlatka Semova.
According to the trade unions, among the factors that affect the increase in the income for the maintenance of a family are the increase in the price of natural gas, electricity for businesses, the upward movement of grain prices on world markets, writes BNT.
“Everyone who lives with a salary of up to BGN 1,000, which is about 32% of the working or insured, falls into the category of the working poor,” noted Violeta Ivanova, deputy director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Studies.
Inflation in our country is calming down, but the prices of many foods are getting closer to the average for the European Union, and for some goods they are even surpassing them.
“The small basket of goods and services grows minimally in terms of percentages and leva, but inexplicably high price values remain in it. Milk, cow’s cheese, cucumbers, eggs have the highest values in euros,” said Plamen Dimitrov, president of KNSB .
Oil, beans, rice and butter also rank us among the EU countries with the highest prices.
KNSB suggests that the state prepare a definition of a living wage.