site.btaUPDATED Public Buildings in 74 Municipalities Have Gas Heating, Cannot Switch to Electricity - Head of National Municipalities Association

Schools, nurseries, administration buildings in 74 municipalities only use natural gas for heating and can hardly switch to electricity, the National Association of the Municipalities in Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) Executive Director Silvia Georgieva said in an interview for BTA. On August 16, the NAMRB leadership met with the caretaker Economy and Industry Minister Nikola Stoyanov to discuss topics of interest for local governments.

"The first and most important issue we looked into is the current state of gas supply, the possible solutions the state is taking to secure the supply for the winter season, how the municipalities will have regular access to gas and how they will be compensated for its higher price," Georgieva said. She pointed out that today the state compensates the costs above BGN 250 per MWh for all non-household clients, such as municipalities, in accordance with the budget update. "This is not the case for the cost of gas, which currently costs more - now more than BGN 300 per MWh, which is concerning to us," she said.

Georgieva reported that the NAMRB was invited by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies Hristo Aleksiev to nominate its representatives to join the Crisis Taskforce in the field of natural gas.

According to the Energy Act, municipalities are non-household clients, Georgieva said. "This makes covering the energy costs extremely difficult," she warned. "Last winter, we proposed law amendments to clearly define what a household and a non-household client is."

During the meeting, the NAMRB briefed Minister Stoyanov on one of its most ambitious projects to date: setting up an investment portfolio for 10 pilot municipalities. Georgieva explained that their economic potential has been thoroughly analyzed, and solid business plans have been developed for them.

"Through this project, which is funded following the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, we are trying to prove that a municipality's local assets and strengths can be funded," said Georgieva. She added that her Association spoke with the local government, local businesses and producers to identify the resources that are available in the municipality but are still underused. The next step was to produce a business plan for each resource, as well as to draw up a business strategy. Georgieva gave specific examples.

Brezovo Municipality (southern Bulgaria) wants to develop organic and eco-agriculture, to certify the products of local farmers as organic. Its partners are both local farmers and the Agricultural University in Plovdiv. The Municipality will set up a certification centre, because this is proving to be a challenging and bureaucratic task for the producers. The local government is already working towards the creation of clean agricultural areas, for which it will provide irrigation.

There are mineral springs in the town of Merichleri, Dimitrovgrad Municipality, southern Bulgaria, whose water is comparable to the one in Karlovy Vary, Czechia. "Through our project and the business plan we have developed, the municipality will restore the mineral water pools with the intention of further investment to restore the fame of this town as a spa resort with healing water," said Georgieva.

The project has a strong chance of providing a more sustainable market for local producers, making it easier for them to market their produce as organic and reach wider markets, the NAMRB Executive Director said.