The "hole" in the SES Fund will be covered with nearly BGN 500 million from the state budget

The state will cover a deficit of nearly BGN 500 million in the "Security of the Electricity System" Fund, so as not to affect the price of household electricity from July 1. This was said by the Acting Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov at a briefing in the Council of Ministers. "The Power System Security Fund has been established to cover the costs of the public electricity supplier in relation to residential customers, as well as to cover the costs of renewable energy producers. The positive financial result in previous years since the creation of the Fund in the period 2021-2022 was used to cover the high prices of electricity and natural gas, respectively by decision of the Ministry of Finance and its programs," explained Malinov.

According to him, in the current regulatory period, there is an exceptional deficit in terms of revenues and expenses in the "Security of the Energy System" Fund - from July 1, 2023 to the present, it is BGN 449 million, and the deficit is expected by the end of the regulatory period to reach about BGN 500 million.

"In this regard, the Council of Ministers made a decision, which foresees a certain procedure and corresponding measures within this year with the sole purpose that this accumulated deficit, or the expenses incurred by the Fund in excess of its revenue part, will be compensated accordingly from the state budget. This will give EWRC the opportunity to prepare the price decision for household consumers' electricity for the next regulatory period - from July 1 of this year. - this deficit should not be compensated by an increase in the cost of living," said Malinov.

Malinov did not go into detail by what exact procedure and measures the deficit will be covered, but he explained:

"Until July 30, the fund must present its final analysis regarding the accumulated deficit, after which it is envisaged that, based on this analysis, the Minister of Energy will propose measures for a decree of the Council of Ministers to cover this deficit. In this decision of the Council of Ministers, which was taken today, it is categorically emphasized that these costs must be covered within the budget year 2024".

At a press conference last week, the chairman of EWRC made a forecast that if the government takes steps to cover the deficit in the fund, the price of household electricity in the country as a whole will increase by about 2%.