Deputy Prime Minister Pekanov: Household Electricity and Heating Prices Will Not Rise Until 1 July 2027

Household consumers will not face increases in electricity or district heating prices until 1 July 2027, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov has said. He reiterated the statement made by Prime Minister Rumen Radev last week and stressed that the rise in natural gas prices was the result of international market trends.

According to Pekanov, the price of natural gas on European exchanges has risen by 30% over the past month and by 80% over the past three months.

Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Prime Minister: “As Prime Minister Radev said last week, end consumers will not face any price increases for either electricity or district heating until 1 July next year. The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) is an independent regulatory body and, I regret to say, the opposition's hysteria about us having to intervene and tell it to impose a smaller increase in gas prices is, in my view, misplaced. The EWRC therefore takes decisions that are entirely in line with market trends. Over the past three months, the price of natural gas on European exchanges has again risen by 80%. Despite this, Bulgaria is in a relatively good position thanks to the system it has in place.”

Nevertheless, prices in Bulgaria remain significantly lower than the European average. The price set yesterday was €58 per megawatt-hour, compared with €95 on European exchanges – a difference of around €40.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that two support schemes for energy-intensive businesses and a broader support programme were already in place. This week, the Ministry of Energy will meet business representatives to discuss ways of improving compensation arrangements and speeding up payments. The aim is to prevent higher energy costs from being passed on to the prices of goods and services paid by end consumers.

Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Prime Minister: “Through various support measures, we are trying to help businesses so that these costs are not passed on to the final prices they charge or, consequently, to production costs. If the measures need to be adjusted, the Ministry of Energy is open to proposals from businesses. These will be considered this week, particularly proposals to speed up compensation payments so that businesses receive them even sooner.”

Regarding the state budget, Pekanov said that discussions with the European Commission on specific details were continuing. He confirmed that the plan was to present the draft budget on Friday.