site.btaEnergy Ministry Proposes Raising State Aid Ceiling for Businesses Due to High Electricity Prices

The Energy Ministry proposed an increase of the state aid ceiling for non-household consumers of electricity from 250 to 300 leva/MWh as of April, to be voted at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. The proposal was prepared after intensive consultations with all stakeholders - the business, the Finance Ministry, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission and others, the Energy Ministry said Thursday.

Earlier this week, the Government said that it will continue compensating the business in April. The scheme remains the same аt 75 per cent of the difference between the real market price for the respective month on the Day Ahead market of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange, and the real market price for July 2021 (185.59 leva/MWh). All 633,000 non-household consumers who are supplied with electricity from the free market will be able to benefit from the aid, the Ministry added.

The continuation of compensations in April and the increase of the aid ceiling are among the measures with which the government addresses the consequences of the unprecedented rise in electricity prices and aims to reduce the inflationary pressure on consumers.

The state and the business agreed on forming a working group of stakeholders by the end of March, which will propose within a month medium- and long-term solutions for predictability of the electricity market in Bulgaria.

The Energy Ministry recalled that the aid being provided to businesses to offset high electricity prices began in October 2021, and different types of customers were included gradually - industry, network operators due to their technological costs, as well as natural gas consumers. The amounts paid for electricity alone are expected to exceed 1.4 billion leva by the end of March: 450 million leva for October and November, 458 million leva for December and January and 525 million leva for February and March.