OVER 1,100 BULGARIAN BUSINESSES STAGE A PROTEST OVER EXPECTED INCREASE OF ELECTRICITY PRICES

On 29th of July, workers and employers from over 1,100 companies in 30 Bulgarian cities stopped work for an hour and staged protests against the proposed increase of electricity prices for businesses, which is due to come into force from 1st of August.

The corporate community say that the Bulgarian businesses cannot and do not want to take the high expenses, resulting from the decision of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) on the planned increase of the ”public service obligation” surcharges, included in the electricity price.

The protest in the capital city Sofia was held outside the building of the Council of Ministers from where the demonstration moved towards the building of the regulator EWRC and then to the Parliament.

The organizers of the protest – the four employers’ organizations and the two national trade unions demanded a moratorium on the electricity prices until 1st of January, a road map for reforms in the energy sector and a revision of the long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) regarding the obligation of Bulgaria’s state-owned utility NEK to purchase power generated by renewable energy sources and US-owned Thermal Power Plants (TPPs).

Earlier Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he would also join the protest against the electricity price hike. He noted he intended to convene a meeting on 1st or 2nd of August to discuss solutions and possibilities to not increase the electricity prices.

A month ago, EWRC proposed a 2% increase of electricity prices for households and a significant increase of the electricity prices for industrial consumers - because of the 120% increase of a surcharge aiming to cover the losses of the state-owned power utility, NEK, accumulated from buying expensive power generated by renewable energy sources, power generated by units of plants and US-owned Thermal Power Plants.

This is the second time business community is staging a protest. On 26th of June, more than 1,000 Bulgarian companies stopped work for an hour to voice their disagreement with the increase, which was then postponed for a month.