The Central Market, according to some merchants operating within the property, is currently the scenario of the internal political disputes which are influencing the normal functioning of the marketing of fruit and vegetables.
The excuse is the way prices of goods that have risen with inflation are handled.
This situation has generated “a climate of destabilization” which has led to a management intervention by the president of the fruit and vegetable market, Nahuel Levaggi, for counterpoints that he maintained with the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini.
The Central Market is a tripartite entity. At its head is a representative for the Province of Buenos Aires, another for the City of Buenos Aires and another for the nation. Levaggi has been president of the province since March 2020. Aníbal Jesús Stella holds the position of vice president representing the national state, and Ezequiel Capelli has the position of director, for the government of Buenos Aires.
Levaggi’s appointment was part of an agreement between kirchnerism and ruralistas who postulate an agenda linked to “family, indigenous, peasant and agroecological agriculture”. However, according to a market operator who preferred to remain anonymous, that project could not be applied because Levaggi arrived at the beginning of the quarantine. “Much of his management and alliance has been focused on sectors that Kirchnerism has always privileged“, has indicated.
According to the same source, “This management has always had a conflict with the operatorswith the producing sectors, but was based on a series of alliances with the importing sectors and with some other large companies in the Central Market”.
The management suffered difficulties and occasional conflicts excellent vegetable, the inauguration of a shed for small farmers. But this year the conflict broke out in the midst of inflation. We talk about very virulent encounters between Levaggi and Matias Tombolini, the Secretary of Commerce.
Apparently, Tombolini blames Levaggi for the increase in fruit and vegetable prices on the internal market during the last period, and which the national government tries to contain from the “Fair Prices” program, which in turn is being questioned in the sector.
The source who revealed the insider added: “The markets should not fix prices, any market that cares to influence prices is contradictory because it responds to the law of supply and demand. In the fruit and vegetable sector, price increases and decreases are frequent. And the consumer responds by stopping buying. But here it is intended that the president of the Central Market controls the prices”, he pointed out.
The escalation of the conflict has led to a sort of intervention by the management of Levaggi by the general manager of the Market, Jonatan Ambrosio, who replies to La Cámpora. “It is not known what their knowledge of growing fruit and vegetables is,” according to the operators.
This version is in line with a statement issued days ago by the Chamber of Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Operators (COMaFru), where Levaggi’s management was described as “the worst in history”.
While general inflation, in February 2023, was 103.1%, the increase in fruit reached 150.5% and vegetables, tubers and legumes recorded an average increase of 81.9%, according to the INDEC.
Source: Clarin
