Bulgarian Cabinet announces energy prices compensation for May-June
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on May 16 that the Bulgarian state will continue to compensate businesses and household consumers for higher energy costs caused by recent increases in electricity and natural gas prices.
For the months of May and June, the state budget will cover 80 per cent of electricity costs above 200 leva a MWh, Petkov said after a meeting of the consultative council that brings together representatives of the government, employer associations and trade unions.
The Cabinet will also compensate businesses and household consumers for additional costs incurred by the increase in gas prices in May. Last week, the country’s utility regulator approved a 13.7 per cent increase in gas prices.
This latest compensation for gas prices will be paid out in addition to, rather than replacing, previously announced compensatory schemes, Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said.
The Cabinet also committed to making future compensatory mechanisms automatic, rather than requiring ad hoc government decisions, by making the required legislative changes.
Petkov did not say how much the compensatory mechanisms were expected to cost the state budget. In March, he said that his Cabinet had paid out more than four billion leva in compensation for Bulgarian businesses and households since taking office in December 2021.
(Photo: government.bg)
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