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The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission has adopted a final decision to modify the prices of services for 2021 approved by the business plans of the water and sewerage operators.
The prices of water and sewerage services of operators in 26 districts of our country are changing, and the changes will take effect on January 1 of next year.
From the table presented with the modified prices for 2021 it is clear that hand in 7 water supply and sewerage companies, prices increased, the most significant being the increase in Sofia and Razgrad, by approximately 6%.
The prices of the services of 16 water supply and sewerage companies are decreasing, the most significant being the decrease in Kresna – around 16%, Sliven – more than 14%, Dobrich – 13% and Yambol – 12%.
For some of the companies there are no changes in the prices of water supply and sewerage services.
In accordance with current laws and regulations, after the third year of the adoption of the companies’ 5-year business plans, the Commission must update the prices of the services approved for the next year, taking into account additional performance indicators, not just the inflation index for the business adoption period. plans. The comprehensive regulatory review carried out this year, including the scheduled inspections of the activities of all the water companies for 2019, takes into account the effect of the implementation of the investments marked by the companies in the business plans, as well as the implementation of uniform efficiency indicators.
7 cities with more expensive water as of 2021
The most significant increase occurs in Sofia and Razgrad
The activity of the water supply and sewerage operators is evaluated according to a uniform methodology. The epidemiological emergency situation has nothing to do withthe results obtained during the last triennium 2017-2019, respectively, cannot be taken into account by the Commission within the procedure for changing the approved prices of water supply and sewerage services for 2021. The EWRC does not have a regulatory possibility to suspend or delay the decision to change the prices approved for next year because according to regulatory requirements this must be done before the start of the price period to which they refer.
EWRC emphasizes that it has strictly followed the statutory procedure regarding the decision on the change in the prices of water and sewage services for 2021. They recall that an open meeting was held on December 3 with remote participation of representatives of water companies from all over the country and a public discussion was held with the participation of the ombudsman, representatives of the branch unions of CITUB and Podkrepa, the Bulgarian Water Association, the management of Water Holding, Maya Manolova from the “Stand up.bg” movement and the regional governor of Targovishte.
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In the discussion, participants expressed their views regarding the prices proposed for the upgrade, and the head of the working group and director of “Water supply and sewerage services” at EWRC, Dr. Ivaylo Kaschiev, clarified that the Ordinance on the regulation of prices of water services in 2016 indicates that After the third year of implementation of the business plans, the EWRC must, according to a certain methodology, approve the recalculated prices for water and sewerage services, taking into account the actual investments made by the companies. and the implementation of uniform performance indicators. He recalled that in recent years the Commission has constantly informed water and sewerage operators and all competent state institutions about the systematic non-implementation of the investment programs established in the business plans of the water companies. It was also stated that operators had the right to request a review of the approved prices in case of unforeseen events that have a significant effect on their income and expenses, and this year two companies benefited from the process.
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