People’s Power urges parliament to delay adoption of price commission’s findings to debate recommendations

“I do not agree with the practice of introducing private labels in Georgia. This will be another step towards granting increased power to global networks,” said Eka Sepashvili, a member of the People’s Power party, at a session of the Georgian Parliament’s temporary commission studying the pricing structure of food products, medicines, and fuel.

According to her, it would have been better to be more specific in the conclusion.

“I broadly agree with the approaches set out in the report, but it would have been better had the conclusions been drafted with greater specificity. Personally, I cannot support the introduction of private-label practices in Georgia, because that would be yet another step towards granting increased power to global retail chains, and would ultimately lead us back towards a monopolistic market structure. This offers little support to small and medium-sized enterprises: if their branding, names, and identities are absorbed into the branding of a large commercial operator, we risk merely reverting to a monopoly-like situation. That said, this is a matter for debate: the how, the what, the in what form, and it is precisely for that reason that I say there was insufficient time to properly understand the substance of the specific recommendations in this report.

On the subject of medicines, there was a discussion here of reference pricing, a practice we already have in place, covering, if I am not mistaken, some 11,000 medicinal products. However, since the introduction of reference pricing, several challenges have already become evident. I believe our commission’s conclusions should acknowledge these issues, address the shortcomings of the current system, and present the public with a more sustainable and effective model.

We must also seriously consider the issue of children’s food products, which are currently priced at artificially inflated levels. We are all well aware of Georgia’s current demographic challenges; they cannot be resolved at a stroke. It is a profound problem that demands a comprehensive approach; financial mechanisms alone will not solve it, and children’s nutrition is a critically important component of any solution. We believe a more concrete, effective, meaningful, and consumer-friendly approach must be developed. I have some questions regarding the approach outlined in the report; however, I acknowledge that this may be a matter for discussion, and I may not have fully understood all aspects of it.

I am now speaking on behalf of the People’s Power parliamentary group; our recommendation will be to refrain from adopting these conclusions today, and instead to allow more time to study and deliberate on the specific recommendations in greater depth to properly understand what is being proposed and only then to make an informed decision on whether or not to lend our support,” said Eka Sepashvili.

For context, the commission examining pricing structures for food products, medicines, and fuel published its conclusions earlier today.