Six major retailers in Bulgaria are being investigated for alleged price fixing, the country’s anti-trust authority, the Commission on Protection of Competition, announced yesterday.

The commission said in a statement it would quiz the six groups (Metro Cash&Carry, Kaufland and Hit from Germany, Billa of Austria, Maxima of Lithuania and Bulgaria’s own Picadilly) over accusations they fixed prices paid to Bulgarian producers.

The body would then decide whether to impose fines of up to 10 per cent of annual turnover on the companies.

The commission said that “retail chains indirectly swapped sensitive information about prices paid to their suppliers. As a result, they were also aware of the marketing strategies of their rivals.”

Furthermore, the retailers agreed on fees demanded from producers to place their products on the supermarket shelves, it added.

The companies can respond to the accusations and have a period of 60 days to change their practices, the commission said.