Minister of Internal and External Trade Jagoda Lazarević announced that inspections of the Delhaize and Veropoulos retail chains revealed widespread violations of the government decree limiting profit margins. Delhaize failed to comply in 70 of its 83 inspected stores, while Veropoulos had minor infractions in three stores. The companies have been fined a total of 25.5 million dinars—24.5 million for Delhaize and 1 million for Veropoulos.
The inspection covered over 5,500 products, with around 550–560 Delhaize products found non-compliant. This is only the first phase of inspections, and further checks will include other retail chains and aspects of the decree, such as rebates.
Lazarević emphasized that market inspectors will continue fieldwork without interruption. Fines can be reduced by 50 percent if paid within seven to eight days; otherwise, cases proceed to misdemeanor court. All inspection reports have been sent to the companies for their response, and the public will be updated as the process continues.
