Katalin Neubauer: “Strong state intervention isn’t a good idea in the long run”

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/6-7.

How do you evaluate the results of the retail sector over the past year? Were there major changes?

Katalin Neubauer
secretary general
MNKSZ

-2024 was undoubtedly a difficult year for Hungarian retail enterprises. Several new laws came into effect, which had a particularly negative influence on smaller and less efficient units. Unfortunately, the losers in this period were mainly small businesses. The market is becoming more concentrated and the importance of Hungarian players is declining.

 What legislative or other changes have taken place recently that affected your membership?

– The official price regulation was in force for a long time and its negative effects could be felt already in the first few months. In many cases essential foodstuffs had to be sold at prices lower than the purchase price for more than a year and a half. It is now clear that this regulation has thoroughly restructured the market. The official price was later accompanied by a mandatory discount scheme and all this represented strong state intervention in pricing. MNKSZ’s view is that strong state intervention has a long-term negative influence on the market.

How much are member companies experiencing the market recovery, sales growth or network expansion?

-Fortunately, we have members who were able to expand last year and this year too. At the same time the increased consumer protection fines can punish mistakes made by retailers with millions of forints. The biggest problem is that regulators often introduce measures too quickly, without implementation guidelines or impact assessments.

How did MNKSZ’s membership structure change in the past year? Have you managed to strengthen cohesion and cooperation among members?

-We have an important new member, Vöröskő Kft., the company that operates the Euronics chain of electronics stores, and several smaller companies have also joined. One of the reasons for this is that we place great emphasis on communicating legislative changes and the tasks they entail to our members in a timely manner and in a language they can understand.

MNKSZ has always played an active role in representing the interests of members. What were the results of recent consultations with the relevant ministries, and what new issues are you planning to represent in the coming months?

-We had many smaller and bigger successes in interest representation last year, mainly in the fields of the deposit return system, the EPR regulation, warranty cards and the abolition of official prices. In the future we would like to continue promoting more practical regulations that are better suited to the functioning of the market for daily and durable consumer goods.

What are your plans and goals for the near future?

– We continue to treat the exemption from social security contributions for student work as a priority. It would also be important to improve entrepreneurship: strong state intervention isn’t a good idea in the long run, as it severely restricts the sense of entrepreneurial freedom and the economic upturn that feeds on it.