site.btaEnergy Minister: Buffers Needed to Deal with Potential Energy Market Instability

Energy Minister Rumen Radev said Wednesday there is a possibility of instability on the energy market, not only in the electricity prices, but also in the natural gas market and energy sources. “We must be cautious, we must create certain buffers, reserves, so that we can deal with negative trends,” he added.

Regarding the price of electricity, Radev noted that Bulgaria is still in a regulated price regime, which is protected. There is no reason to worry about the price of household electricity, he assured. He added that there is no reason why the supplies of natural gas should not be carried out.

Radev argued that Bulgaria has delayed too much the steps towards liberalization of the wholesale electricity market. “The biggest criticism we receive from the European Commission is not about whether we are helping the household consumer, the criticism is why there are special quotas for the regulated electricity market on the part of Kozloduy NPP, on the part of the hydropower plants in the National Electric Company structure, as well as the quotas for the two American power plants,” the Minister pointed out.

He added that these issues are addressed in the amendments to the Energy Act. “With the amendments to the Energy Act, the team's effort was to address such criticism,” the Minister added. Radev said that Bulgaria is already in a sanction procedure and the sanctions are paid with the money of the Bulgarian consumers. The changes in the law also regulate certain statutes, such as the concept of energy poverty, he stated.