Economy Minister Davor Filipovic said on Friday price lists had been requested from retail chains so that citizens could compare them.

This week the ministry asked the ten biggest retailer chains to submit the prices of 80 items in 2022 and to submit them every two weeks so that the ministry could show them to citizens in one place for comparison, he told press after a cabinet meeting.

All retail chains said they would provide the data, he said, hoping that this will allow citizens to see “who has been okay to them in this crisis and who hasn’t.”

Asked why the government had given up freezing prices, Filipovic said what had been announced was not scrapped, but that findings showed that a good portion of businesses had restored prices in line with the government’s decision.

“We assessed that inspections should be stepped up and then we’ll see if other steps will be taken,” he said, adding that the message is that prices should be restored to what they were on 31 December, before the euro changeover.

Asked if the government had been naive in believing that retailers, hospitality and hairdressers would not raise prices, Filipovic said the government considered all business entities partners and that no one could be punished in advance.

A law on the euro was passed and guidelines were given, but some are flouting them, so the government is using everything at its disposal, he said, adding that it is in no one’s interest to have the tax and customs authorities constantly on their premises.

Filipovic is confident that all businesses which have raised prices without justification will restore them to what they were on 31 December or, he said, the government will take action.