Wholesale suppliers of goods to the Karaganda region, Milk Group LLC and Dep Plus LLC, inflated the trade markup on butter by 22.6% and 26.3%. Sultan Kamal LLC sold 2.5% fat kefir with a 43.2% markup, and Kadomets LLC sold Category C1 chicken eggs with a 25% markup. Er-Ai 2012 LLC increased the established markup on buckwheat by 12%, DKNews.kz reports.
Vegetable suppliers Nadirov LLC and Marsh LLC inflated the markup on potatoes to retail chains by 5% and 20%, respectively. As a result, the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the Karaganda Region brought all these retailers to administrative responsibility under Article 204-4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Since the beginning of the year, 155 retailers have been held administratively liable in the Karaganda region as part of state oversight. Of these, 142 unjustifiably inflated markups on socially important food products, 10 were found to have price discrepancies, and three failed to comply with retail store operating hours. As a result, 40 entrepreneurs were issued warnings, and 115 were fined over 5 million tenge.
To prevent unjustified price increases on socially important products and eliminate ineffective intermediary chains, a regional commission to investigate intermediary schemes is operating in the region. In accordance with its operating procedure, the commission closely collaborates with other government agencies.
"To identify unjustified price increases, we, together with the Department of State Revenue, regularly analyze electronic invoices from key market participants and, as part of this collaboration, constantly monitor the movement of goods from the manufacturer to the supermarket shelf," said Abzal Rakhymbayev, Head of the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection of the Karaganda Region.
Since the beginning of the year, the commission has held 57 meetings. As a result, five large retail chains and 32 wholesale suppliers have been held administratively liable. According to the department's monitoring data, Karaganda entrepreneurs most often unjustifiably increase markups on groceries, with 81 instances identified since the beginning of the year. Vegetables are second with 51 instances.
