Competition

Chinese carmakers are fast increasing their share in the Turkish market, but subsidies the Chinese companies receive from their government may lead to unfair competition, warns Baran Çelik, the board chair of the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OİB).

Marios Antoniou, the secretary-general of the Cypriot Retail Trade Association, discussed on Monday the pricing dynamics of products affected by the zero value-added tax rate, as well as current data and requests for price adjustments by product suppliers.

Development Minister Kostas Skrekas announced on Wednesday a list of 233 products that have so far been included in the permanent price reduction measure, which aims for more affordable grocery pricing. The price cuts starting from 5% and reaching up to 23% will be implemented for six months.

The Competition Commission and the competent agencies of the Ministry of Development are investigating the pricing policies of multinational companies in the local market, as it is found that many products are sold in Greece at much higher prices than in other European countries with far greater purchasing power.

The government expects the new medium-term program to be unveiled in September to reduce uncertainties and increase predictability for investors, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said.

The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), in association with ALBA (the Graduate Business School of the American College of Greece), is organizing its seventh cycle of scholarships for the educational evolution of its members' officials.

Cyprus has experienced a decline in its global competitiveness for a third consecutive year, dropping from 40th position to 45th out of 64 countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Center rankings. This marks Cyprus' lowest position since its participation in the rankings, according to the University of Cyprus' Economic Research Center (ERC).

Electricity tariffs return to the regime of the readjustment clause from October 1, and the market's regulator (RAAEY) is in a hurry to prevent phenomena that consumers painfully faced when the crisis began. Suppliers, for their part, are looking for pricing formulas to transfer wholesale market risk without having to risk a new crisis of confidence from their customers.

Motivated not by the search for the cheapest kilowatt-hour, but by "escaping" their bills, the phenomenon of consumers moving from one retail electricity provider to another has been dubbed "energy tourism" by supply companies, and it has become the bane of the market.

The process of Ukraine's accession to the EU will progress "much faster" than usual, predicts Margrethe Vestager.