With artificial intelligence, digital tools and the use of real-time market data at the core of its strategy, Greece’s Development Ministry is accelerating plans for a new era of market oversight and consumer protection. The goal is to create a unified digital ecosystem designed to combat rising prices and unfair commercial practices.
At the center of the initiative is the new platform “PosoKanei” (how much does it cost?), which replaces and upgrades the existing application “e-katanalotis”. The platform aims to become a modern, interactive tool for price comparison and consumer purchasing decisions, offering citizens immediate and reliable information about the market.
As part of the project, the Development Ministry has issued an invitation for bids to CIRCANA HELLAS S.A., a market research company, for the provision of data services for the new platform. The deadline for submitting offers expires on May 26.
The contract concerns the transfer of a list containing the market’s highest-volume products — the top 10,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) — to the Independent Authority for Consumer Protection. The company maintains extensive databases of branded products as well as private-label goods distributed through supermarket chains.
These product codes will form the “backbone” of the new digital tool, which will provide real-time information on prices, comparisons and fluctuations in essential consumer goods.
The estimated value of the contract stands at €9,300 excluding VAT, or €11,532 in total, and will be funded through the Development Ministry’s regular budget for 2026.
Strengthening the Independent Market Control Authority
The initiative is linked to the broader plan to strengthen the newly established Independent Authority for Consumer Protection, for which a parallel funding program worth €4.6 million is also being activated.
The related call for proposals, signed by Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos and published on the Diavgeia, Greece’s government transparency platform, concerns actions aimed at upgrading and expanding the Authority’s digital capabilities, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence applications for the “smart monitoring” of the market.
The new system will use data analysis tools to detect violations, categorize complaints, conduct ex officio inspections and impose fines. At the same time, it will support administrative decision-making processes, allowing for faster and fully documented interventions.
Public spending for the initiative amounts to €4,612,800 and falls under the “Development Ministry Sectoral Development Programme 2026–2030,” within the priority axis titled “Strengthening Trade and Consumer Protection.”
Digital Transformation and Market Oversight
Government sources say the objective is to create a modern and unified market supervision mechanism modeled on systems already operating in advanced European countries. In those countries, artificial intelligence and digital data are already being used to monitor prices and tackle profiteering practices.
Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos has described the new Authority as “a highly significant institutional reform,” stressing that, for the first time, Greece is creating a unified and coordinated mechanism for market supervision and consumer protection.
According to ministry figures, fines totaling millions of euros have already been imposed for violations related to profit margin caps and breaches of the Code of Conduct.
