Five supermarket chains fined for profiteering

Five leading supermarket chains have been fined a total of 382,497 euros for over-pricing their products, the Development Ministry announced on Thursday.

The biggest fine, which is also the second-largest on record in Greece, went to the Dutch-owned AB Vassilopoulos chain, which faces a bill of 319,900.

Lidl Hellas, a subsidiary of the German budget chain, was fined 26,880. Even though this is below the shaming threshold of 50,000 euros, authorities announced its name because it is a repeat offender.

Fellow repeat offenders Galaxias and Kritikos also have to pay 21,387 and 9,330 euros respectively, while another chain, which remains unnamed, was fined 5,000 for its first transgression.