The Competition Council has initiated an investigation to find how legal it was for bakeries to concomitantly rise bread prices, IPN reports.

On August 15, bread and bakery products rose in price by 15% on average, and the bakeries argued the move was a consequence of the more expensive flour, electricity and gas, with the devaluation of the leu being a further cited reason.

In reaction, experts at the Institute of European Reforms and Policies (IPRE) suggested that the price rise violated a number of competition legal rules, urging the Competition Council to investigate and potentially impose sanctions.