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The state will temporarily and indefinitely freeze the price of natural gas. This follows from a press release from the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, issued Tuesday night.
Energy Minister Temenujka Petkova has ordered an unprecedented inspection of how the state-owned company Bulgargaz shaped the price of natural gas for the month of September. That is why Bulgargaz has requested the withdrawal of its request to increase the price of gas as of September 1 by 20.3%, as announced today. EWRC granted the request and terminated the administrative procedure at the request of Bulgargaz.
The EWRC announcement does not make clear how long the inspection of Temenuzhka Petkova will last, that is, how long gas prices will remain artificially frozen. So they will most likely increase retroactively, which will be a huge burden on consumers.
Energy experts say that Bulgargaz’s offering is a direct reflection of stock market prices and that the price increase at the beginning of the fall-winter season is almost an annual phenomenon. According to experts, it is possible that the government’s unprecedented move may have political motives in connection with the upcoming national protest against Boyko Borissov’s cabinet on Wednesday, September 2.
The state-owned company Bulgargaz has committed to notify the EWRC in a timely manner of the results of the inspection and will submit an application for approval of a price at which the public supplier will sell natural gas from September 1, 2020, the EWRC said. it’s a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, the gas company’s CEO Nikolay Pavlov said he had said natural gas would rise 20.3 percent. The energy regulator had to decide today whether to approve the increase. If approved, starting today a megawatt of blue fuel would cost 22.46 stotinki, without fees or taxes, it was clear from Pavlov’s words to BNR.
The company was initially expected to request a 15 percent price increase. However, last week, during a public discussion, Bulgargaz said the increase could be higher due to the significant increase in the price of natural gas on European stock exchanges.
The EWRC explained that this will not lead to a revision of heating and hot water prices, as they are already set once a year, and the current increase in gas prices has been calculated in advance.
At the same time, it became clear that at this time Toplofikacia Sofia’s past due liabilities with Bulgargaz amount to BGN 120 million, and the company is expected to repay its debt in full by the end of September.
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