High fuel prices: Bulgaria allocates 18M euro to support bus transport

The state is allocating 18 million euro to support bus transport companies due to higher fuel prices, Bulgaria’s caretaker Transport Minister Korman Ismailov said on April 8.

The money will be directed to municipalities, Ismailov said.

He said that the goal is to maintain ticket prices and prevent layoffs in the industry.

“In order to prevent speculative price increases, despite subsidisation, a mechanism has been introduced to monitor prices and prevent overcompensation,” Ismailov said.

“Bulgaria is a market economy. Every carrier has the right to adjust its prices, but must keep in mind that in the event of an unjustified increase, the amount of aid provided will be reduced,” he said.

The government also allocated 2.5 million euro to compensate for high fuel prices for transporting school pupils

Caretaker Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski said that in spite of the drop in oil prices in recent hours, support measures have been activated with increased and constant control at fuel stations.

“Most of the fuel station chains are currently trying to capture part of the wholesale price increases by reducing their margins, but the National Revenue Agency will continue to monitor this on a daily basis, and in the second half of April we will be able to see the turnover and profits in much more detail at all fuel stations, so the control is constant and intensified,” Klisurski said.

In Bulgaria, according to the fuelo.net website, while the average price of a litre of A95 petrol was 1.25 euro on February 27 (the day before the beginning of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran), as of April 8 it is 1.48 euro.

While the average price of a litre of diesel was 1.29 euro on February 27, as of April 8 it is 1.74 euro, according to the website.

(Photo: John Nyberg/ sxc.hu)