TIRANA, March 19 – The Competition Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into the price hike of hand sanitizers, medical alcohol and masks in pharmacies. CA’s decision comes after numerous complaints were filed by citizens regarding the inflation of prices since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, when demands for the aforementioned items increased in Albania.
After thorough monitoring, the CA stated that there is a shortage of items at the retail level and there is an unjustified price hike of these items at all levels, including the pharmaceutical depot and the local pharmacies. As a result, the preliminary investigation will cover the timeline from January 1st of 2020 to May 31st of 2020.
In addition to the investigation, the CA has also taken several temporary measures within the market.
The first measure involves the prohibition of enterprises which directly or indirectly impose unfair trading prices or conditions for premedical items, from conducting their activity in the wholesale and retail trading network.
Second, in order to avoid abuse in the trading chain, the CA obliges all enterprises operating in the import and wholesale market of premium materials to be transparent in setting the selling price of hand sanitizers, medical alcohol and masks. The third measure involves the application of cost-oriented pricing and their publication on the official websites of enterprises or other communication channels.
