Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili reviewed the country’s food prices during the government meeting held on Monday.
The Head of Government of Georgia instructed the respective ministers to meet the food importers and find solutions for high prices on commodities.
"I mentioned inflation and wish to once again explain it to our society. Several weeks ago, I instructed the National Competition Agency to scrutinize the commodity pricing. I was wondering to what extent the importers were decent and whether such profit margins charged by importers were reasonable. Findings of the study are truly alarming and I wish to share the preliminary outcome of it with our society. I instructed them to look into the main commodities and it turns out that rice or buckwheat, pasta, sugar, salt, vegetable oil have a 50, 60, 70 or 80% mark-up incorporated within the retail prices. I am not yet referring to the sales price for end consumers. These are afterwards topped with retail price differences. Ultimate mark-up end being 25 or 30%. Thus, our citizens have to pay for goods with a 100% mark-up at the end of the day. It is, of course, categorically unacceptable", - said Irakli Garibashvili.
