Agriculture Minister Ljupco Nikolovski accused the baking industry of unfairly increasing the price of bread, even though it was able to purchase grains at a discounted price.

The raw material was made available at half price this year. It would be fair to avoid speculations and to avoid price fixing. Energy prices were also stabilized, compared to last year. So the bakers need to give their arguments for the price increase that amounts to making profits over the backs of the people, Nikolovski said.

The Government got used to intervening in the markets of basic food items and fixing their price during the energy crisis last year. But as of recently, market prices have been liberalized.