The price of electricity for household consumers will increase by an average of 8.42% from January 1, 2024, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) decided.
In an interview with "Denyat na Zivu", the chairman of the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum, Dr. Ivan Hinovski, explained that the EWRC had no other choice but to raise the price of electricity. And this is because of a political decision or, more precisely, a change in the law from 2023.
He assessed as non-working the proposal of the DPS - Novo Nachod to impose a moratorium on electricity prices until the election of a new EWRC. "The moratorium is a non-market model. Someone has to pay NEK: whether we or the budget, it's the same thing," the expert explained.
According to him, a modern market reform is needed in the field, which has been talked about for 20 years. "Liberalization should be implemented with a fair burden on all consumers: the poor should receive a social tariff for electricity. A moratorium would burden the state budget," Dr. Hinovsky also said.
He explained the increase in the price of electricity mainly with external influences.
"The quantities of electricity that Ukraine buys from all the exchanges around us, including from BEH, are huge, because it does not have its own production. "Demand is increasing and accordingly prices on the exchanges are rising," said Dr. Hinovski, giving as an example the "extremely high demand for electricity from Romanian traders," who subsequently sell to Ukraine.
The expert's forecast is that prices may go down in March or April.