Household consumers will not see an increase in electricity and heating prices until July 1, 2027, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov said. He confirmed the assurance given by Prime Minister Rumen Radev the previous week.
“There will be no increase for them, either in electricity or heating, until July 1 next year,” Pekanov told BNT. According to him, the price of natural gas on European exchanges has risen by 30% over the past month and by 80% over the past three months.
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission is an independent regulatory body and that its decisions follow market trends. He described calls for the government to intervene directly in decisions on gas prices as misguided.
The price set in Bulgaria is €58 per megawatt-hour, while on European exchanges it has reached €95. The difference is around 40% in favor of the Bulgarian market, Pekanov said.
Compensation for Businesses
Two programs for energy-intensive companies and one general support program are already in place for businesses. The Ministry of Energy will discuss with company representatives ways to improve the compensation and speed up its disbursement.
The aim is to prevent higher electricity and gas costs from being passed on to the final prices of goods and services. “If there is a need to optimize the measures, the Ministry of Energy is open to proposals from businesses,” Pekanov said.
He added that talks with the European Commission on specific details of the state budget are continuing. The plan is for the draft budget to be presented on Friday.