site.btaOmbudsman Kovacheva Asks State to Compensate Households for Natural Gas Prices Retroactively

Sofia, January 7 (BTA) - Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva sent out a recommendation to Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, in which she suggested that household natural gas consumers should retroactively receive financial support from the state because of the unprecedented natural gas price increase in the last six months and the several-fold increase of household bills, Kovacheva's press centre said Friday.

Within the framework of the stated intention of the Energy Ministry to compensate household natural gas consumers, Kovacheva suggested that compensations be granted retroactively from July 1, 2021, or at least from the beginning of the heating season, from October 1, 2021, until March 31, 2022.

The reason for her recommendation are the numerous complaints and signals of household natural gas consumers who demand that the state secure equality between different energy consumers.

"A moratorium on electricity and heat prices is in place, but there is no clarity about natural gas so far, despite the unbearable prices reached for many households for the relatively warm months of the winter season," Kovacheva indicated and insisted that such injustice should be corrected as soon as possible.

A review of the natural gas price change for the period showed that it is fair for the size of the compensations to be determined separately for each month as a percentage of the established household natural gas price by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, Kovacheva added.

At Thursday's joint sitting of the parliamentary committees on Budget and Finance and on Energy, Energy Minister Nikolov said that following the latest changes in natural gas prices, additional support will be planned for households to reduce their heating expenses this season. The amount of the aid will take into view the increase of the gas price by over 30 per cent as of January 1, he specified.

The Energy Ministry is reviewing options for a maximized size of compensations for household natural gas consumers, but it should receive a notification from the European Commission to decide, Nikolov said in an interview for bTV on Friday. Compensations will cover at least three months and the state will make sure that no heating companies go bankrupt, Nikolov added.

Once the moratorium on electricity, heating, and water prices ends, there will be no shock price increase, because all compensatory instruments are alleviating the current accumulated pressure and deficit. Nikolov said that the direction of prices is clear, and it should be made socially tolerable and balanced in the long run. RY/YV