Ahead of the call by activists and trade unionists to boycott stores on Friday, January 31, the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro says that this type of pressure cannot yield results, and will not affect the reduction of product prices.
Nikola Vujović, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said in "Colors of Morning" on TV Vijesti that we should deal with the causes, not the consequences, of high prices.
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"Retailers are not responsible for price increases. Our gross margin in retail is around 20 percent, which is lower than in the surrounding area. In Croatia it is 30 percent, and in countries like Germany and France it is as high as 37-38 percent," said Vujović.
He added that prices are influenced by global trends and economic policies in the country.
"The increase in minimum wages in Montenegro was drastic – twice as high as before, and productivity has not kept up with that growth. Also, our economy is highly import-dependent, with an import-export coverage of only 14 percent," he said.
Vujović said that the largest Montenegrin retail chains in 2023 had a turnover growth of 2021 to 40 percent compared to 50 due to an increase in wages.
"Increase in wages, which is not a consequence of productivity growth. So, we did not create and earn those higher wages. It means that we pumped a certain amount of money into the system," he said.
Vujović warns that a long-term boycott could harm domestic producers, not large foreign suppliers.
"If citizens do not buy, it will first affect domestic producers, not the global chains that market the goods. Our boycott will not even touch them, but domestic stores and producers will feel the losses," he pointed out.
Of the over 450 citizens who expressed their opinions live during the show via the Megafon app, 95 percent of them say that their shopping carts will be empty on Friday.
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