OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Poor Albanians pay dearly for oligopolies on the market, prices 80% higher than in Europe

2024-09-13 14:17:53Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA ESMERALDA TOPI
Poor Albanians pay dearly for oligopolies on the market, prices 80% higher than
Photo ilustruese

Price abuses are driving some Albanian citizens to travel hundreds of kilometers to neighboring countries to buy basic consumer goods, while the most vulnerable families have been forced to cut consumption.

For seven years Olgera Muka, together with her husband, travels
to Greece to provide food and all other consumer goods needed for their family.

"We started at first for quality, but over time we realized that it was cheaper than in Tirana," Olgera recalled.

"Along with our fuel costs and car insurance, again the products we get cost less than in our country," she added.

Albania is one of the lowest-income countries in Europe, but still the prices for many everyday consumer products are significantly higher than in the rich countries of the European Union.

Not all consumers can travel abroad to provide basket goods, especially those from the most vulnerable groups, who have been forced to cut consumption for their families.

"Living after the pandemic has become much more expensive," said Alma Morina, a single mother from Shijaku, while she added that the past three years everything has been costly.

"I haven't been outside myself, but my relatives who are outside say, 'We are sorry for you, how do you manage to get here more expensive than we are.'

The price differences of food or other consumer goods between Albania and the various european union countries are also observed by other consumers.

Data collected by Faktojë through an online survey by dozens of citizens show that 87% of respondents claim that Europe has cheaper prices than Albania for food and other consumer products.

Poor Albanians pay dearly for oligopolies on the market, prices 80% higher than

Economics experts and researchers say this price difference facing domestic consumers could come from a range of objective factors, such as tax rate, transport costs, the estimation of lek against the euro and market size.

However, they blame mainly the abuse of commercial companies that have placed oligopolies on the market, impunity and lack of protection from consumer abuses.

Ilir Ciko, an Albanian economist educated at Harvard University, points out that the price difference for consumer goods stems mainly from 'dependence and policy ties to the interests of big businesses, secret deals between operators dominating the market, widespread corruption in institutions; "The consumer's inability to make alternative choices."

Asked by Fajtoje, through a written response, the Competition Authority said that in fulfillment of the tasks charged by law and the resolutions of the Assembly, a series of steps has been taken over the past 5 years to ensure a fair and competitive market for basket products.

"The Competition Authority has conducted monitoring and investigation in recent years on many of the basket products such as oil, wheat, flour, rice, sugar, fuels, etc.," the Authority said.

"Currently, in the assessment of public complaints, preliminary investigation of the market for collection and wholesale of fruits and vegetables in Tirana, Elbasan, Berat, Fier and Korca are in procedure, as well as in an in-depth investigation into the market for producing and trading wholesale milk by-products (cheese and butter)," he added.

More expensive prices than the EU and the region

The couple of muka spouses travel every three months 7 hours by car from Tirana to Kostur – a town in northern Greece, and vice versa to buy basket food and everyday consumer goods. They have no intention of changing this routine because of economic convenience.

"In Greek supermarkets there are food and personal hygiene products that cost even 4 times cheaper than in Albanian supermarkets. Also, the prices of supplements or certain medications are much cheaper," Olgera explained. "An iron grain (supplement) in Albania costs 100 new LEK and in Greece 25 new lekë," she added.

Given this gap in awards Professor Ciko conducted during spring of this year an extensive study analyzing 150 products from Albania and their counterparts in European countries.

The study shows that in spring this year, the average price of products in the Albanian market was about 80% higher than the average price of the same products – sold by the same companies, in the EU markets.

"Out of the list of 150 products, the highest difference (in percentage) results in a breakfast food package, cornflakes, which in Albania is sold at a 212% higher price, or over three times the price sold by the same company in the European country from which it comes from," he said.

The highest-margin prices are noted in three categories: baby food, food and animal feed. According to the data obtained from the study baby food, it results in the highest average price change.

Poor Albanians pay dearly for oligopolies on the market, prices 80% higher than
Study 'Become Europeans! A transformative journey through dreams, patterns, expectations, and reality."

"For this category, the average price of products sold in Albania is 147% more, or 2 1/2 times the price of the same products sold in the EU country where the company that markets these products comes from" explained Ciko.

The study also notes that the same products originating in the European Union in Albania are many times more expensive compared to countries in the region.

In Serbia and Kosovo, the price difference fluctuates on average less than 15 percent, while in Albania it reaches 71%.

Treg oligopol

According to the data collected by Faktoje through the online questionnaire, 73% of respondents say that the price difference between Albania and EU countries comes due to abuses, lack of competition in the market, and lack of state control.

Poor Albanians pay dearly for oligopolies on the market, prices 80% higher than

Economics expert Eduard Gjokutaj points out that this situation is typical of an oligopoly market, owned by a small group of individuals. According to him, this is reflected in the fact that prices remain stubbornly high even though there has been a strengthening of the domestic currency against foreign currencies.

"In the conditions where the foreign currencies, with which these products are purchased in foreign markets, have a decrease by 25%, which at least should have been transmitted to a 15% effect on the price reductions of two years ago, if we calculate the added cost of manpower, energy and some services," he said.

Professor Ilir Ciko lists a number of factors for this situation, including lack of control, the culture of impunity of companies that abuse the consumer, as well as the lack of competition in the market.

However, he added that this market distortion is unlikely to change because consumers have little information and Albanian society is reconciled and coexists with evil.

"Lack of hope; The extreme politicization of every public issue and the silence of intellectuals;" translates as after it into total lack of civic response, lack of defense mechanisms and interests to protect the consumer from the state and pseudo-civil society.

Only after addressing these factors, Professor Ciko points out, can we talk about the level of consumption taxes, transport costs, estimation of the lek against the euro, market size or other elements that in this discussion are very secondary.

The Elephant in the Room

The increase in prices is forcing Albanian families to buy less food. According to the factoje survey data on the cost of food in Albania and the EU, 94% of respondents claim to buy fewer products than a year ago, while 76% of them say they have reduced their purchases of different foods.

"I'm forced to buy less in quantity and be careful because it doesn't come across to me," Said Alma Morina. "Half the salary I get I only need for basic foods, not counting anything else," she added.

Professor Ilir Ciko shows that his study was read with high interest by the heads and representatives of institutions dealing with competition and consumer protection, but he sees institutions as powerless to make a difference.

"For many, the study is like an extremely large elephant within the comfort space where they stay," Ciko said. "It may seem paradoxical, but I believe that change can come from companies, certainly under pressure from the voice of the citizens," he added.

According to Gjokutaj, the reduction of food VAT is a measure that would ease the situation somewhat, but it still underlines that the bells fall on the Competition Authority. However, the awakening of institutions and companies many Albanians will continue to address the market in neighboring countries.

"In the next couple of weeks I have the next road to Kostur," Olgera Muka said. "I'm going to go back to the next year," she concluded. /Faktoje.al

Galeria fotografike (
)


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×