Wages in Mini Maritsa East will be increased by 15%, and coal will also rise in price

Salaries in Mini Maritsa-East EAD will be increased by 15% from April 1, 2022. This was agreed today by the participants in the Coal Branch Council, which was held at the Ministry of Energy under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister Plamen Danailov. 7.8% of the growth of wages covers the officially reported inflation for 2021. In addition, another 7.2% were added to them, while maintaining all social benefits for employees in the company. This was announced today by the Ministry of Energy.

The participants in the branch council also agreed on the investment program of the company. For 2022 it is worth BGN 62 million, but will be supplemented to BGN 100 million. The funds will be invested in the necessary current and capital repairs, as well as in renewable energy sources for own use.

The Ministry of Energy is committed to provide full assistance to the company to provide the necessary funding for the normal investment process, said before the participants in the council Deputy Minister Danailov. He emphasized that this is a key condition for stability, sustainability and predictability in the work of Mini Maritza-East EAD, which provide raw materials for the basic capacities of the electricity system in the country.

Coal of "Mini Maritsa East" also became more expensive

As of March 1, a ton of conventional fuel extracted in the mines of "Mini Maritsa-East" already costs BGN 87.35, compared to BGN 77 so far, ie. the price increase is a little over 13%. This was announced by the executive director of the state coal company, engineer Ilza Chinkova, to BNR-Stara Zagora.

The price of coal has not been updated since 2014, and the unions in the company have repeatedly signaled that this leads to problems with the repair and investment program and complicates the work. The increase in the price will also help to stabilize the activity of the enterprise, on the extraction of which the supply of coal to the thermal power plants of the Maritsa-East complex depends.

"Over the past decade, investment in the coal company has been neglected, especially in terms of core business, which now needs to catch up. Perhaps this is due to the expectation that coal mining will have waning functions, but now we compensate, in the conditions of crises, in order to provide the equipment and to ensure the higher yield ", commented Chinkova.

The higher price and higher yields will also lead to better incomes for employees, but serious investments are needed and compensation for higher prices in electricity, fuels and spare parts.

According to Ilza Chinkova, the mines must be maintained for many years, and at least in the next 15 years they are a mandatory basic element guaranteeing the country's energy independence.

"1 ton of conventional fuel gives 7,000 calories, which are obtained by burning 1 ton of high quality hard coal. Their price on the international market since the beginning of the year is around $ 330-350, ie 600-620 BGN. This means that even after the increase in prices our coal-fired power plants will receive about 7-8 TIMES cheaper fuel than thermal power plants in Western Europe, which work with imported coal from Russia, USA, Colombia, Australia, etc. I will not comment on gas power plants at all - there the difference is even bigger, "explained sustainable development expert Boyan Rashev.

The increase in coal will also increase the fixed costs of thermal power plants. This will ultimately reflect on the price of electricity for the regulated market.