Retailers are prepared to implement a price monitoring mechanism after it is fully agreed with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) said on Tuesday.

HUP sent a letter to the Ministry saying it had received a letter from the Ministry on Monday requesting the highest retail prices on specific dates for all products belonging to one of 78 categories.

“Considering the range of products at different retailers, we stress that we are talking about hundreds of products from the categories of brands and private brands,” HUP underlined, adding that the Ministry did not clarify any specific price comparison methodology, and how different products provided by a number of retailers will be objectively compared.

HUP added that  “retailers are prepared to participate in the implementation of the price monitoring mechanism after retailers reach an agreement with the ministry on the method of implementing the price comparison mechanism and after it is made public in order to ensure a correct presentation of the situation on the market and prevent further reputational damage that we have suffered together with other retailers.”

HUP: Retailers have unjustifiably been called out

HUP notes that retail chains “have unjustifiably been accused of irregularities, manipulations and ‘cheating’ consumers in the price conversion process.”

That these accusations were unfounded was shown by the results of more than 170 inspections carried out in a number of retail chains, in which only a small number of examples of increased prices were found, which is negligible considering the scope of trade in Croatia, according to HUP.

“Given the above and the continuous reputational damage we are suffering due to the entire situation, it is in our interest to stop the trend of misinforming the public and to provide consumers with truthful information,” HUP said in its letter to the Ministry.

For retailers to participate in price control mechanisms “implies prior mutual agreement on the price comparison methodology and partnership cooperation without ultimatums and unjustified name-calling.”

Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipovic said on Friday that price lists were requested from retail chains, which citizens will be able to compare.

He said that the Ministry had sent a letter to the 10 largest retail chains asking them to provide the prices of 80 items for all of last year and to provide this information every two weeks so it can be presented to the public in one place where they will be able to compare prices.