site.btaTourist Sites Will Go Under without Electricity Prices Compensation, Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association Warns

The tourism sector is extremely worried about the lack of a stable mechanism to compensate non-household consumers, such as hotels and restaurants due to high electricity prices on the free market in 2025, said the chairman of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) Georgi Shterev, quoted in a press release of the organization on Friday.

"Along with the short summer and winter seasons threatened by the rise in electricity prices, it should be borne in mind that the hotel and restaurant business is very energy-intensive and electricity is a big item in companies' expenses.

The increase in electricity prices could prove disastrous, especially for hotels whose air-conditioners and kitchens usually run at peak times with the highest electricity prices for businesses, he explained. Without compensation for high electricity prices for businesses, bankruptcies will follow. And hence high unemployment across the country," Shterev said.

The BHRA is ready to join the protest of employers' organizations and trade unions, which plan to block roads in the country on January 15 to point out to the government that the issue of compensation for businesses over the expensive electricity does not tolerate delay.

 "Two-thirds of our business depends on electricity consumption," said BHRA Deputy Chair Atanas Dimitrov, adding that this is why the high electricity prices together with the VAT increase are among the two most serious threats for restaurant owners. 

Unless a compensation mechanism is introduced, a national protest against the non-competitive electricity prices is planned for January 15, said Thursday Vassil Velev, who chairs the Management Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA).