Covid-19: Bulgaria extends deadline for paying electricity bills from 20 to 30 days

Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova issued an order on April 30 extending the deadline for paying household electricity bills from 20 to 30 days, the ministry said in a statement.

The delay is an “upgrade” of the measures taken so far in the State of Emergency because of Covid-19, Petkova told a briefing at the Cabinet office.

The State of Emergency Act empowers the Minister of Energy to take such a step in agreement with the national operational headquarters and after an analysis of the security of the energy system, the Energy Ministry statement said.

The analysis had shown that 70 per cent of household electricity bills had been paid by the normal deadline and 20 per cent within the extended 20-day period.

More than 10 700 individual agreements on rescheduling the deadline had been concluded, the ministry said.

The energy distribution companies had made close to 100 per cent of their payments to the National Electricity Company, which in turn had paid the energy producers.

Petkova urged consumers to pay their bills on a regular basis to the best of their ability, so as not to pile up sums due in the future. At the same time, the possibility remains for every client to negotiate and reschedule the amounts due for electricity bills.

She called on consumers to pay their bills electronically, as a way to guarantee public health during the coronavirus pandemic.

(Photo: John Mason/freeimages.com)

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