site.btaCabinet Provides Funding to Compensate Non-household Users for High Electricity Prices January to March

The government decided to compensate non-household consumers for the high electricity prices, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers Thursday. He pointed out that the decision is in line with the extended budget for 2025 and the main effects are firstly "pulling the emergency brake" on inflationary processes related to the price of electricity, and secondly - guaranteeing the jobs of tens of thousands of workers in enterprises. Last but not least is ensuring the competitiveness of businesses in Europe and worldwide, the Energy Minister noted.

The compensation is 100% above the value of BGN 180 per megawatt-hour up to the average exchange price on the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange. "This guarantees the predictability of the price of energy for the industry," Stankov explained. He stressed that the full rigor of the law would be applied if there are sectors and businesses that start to raise their prices for goods and services, especially necessities, citing high electricity prices.

From January to March the programme is financially secured, Stankov added.

He said that he inherited a deficit in the Electricity System Security Fund regarding compensations in December. “We have also secured enough funds for the December compensation to cover about 30% of the average electricity bill,” Minister Stankov said. He thanked the industry and trade unions for these important decisions. 

Stankov and Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova both think that work on the 2025 budget should start immediately. “We will keep in constant communication with Minister Petkova and the sector to find an opportunity for Bulgarian businesses to remain competitive, to keep its markets, to invest and not to raise prices to end consumers,” the Energy Minister assured, adding that his team is ready for all scenarios, and that households should not bear the burden of high electricity bills.