The program to compensate businesses for expensive electricity will be extended by three months
Business remains on protest alert, companies urged not to raise prices of their goods from this month
The program to compensate businesses for more expensive electricity will be extended by three months through the Bill on the Collection of Revenues and Expenditures in 2025. This became clear after a meeting of the Minister of Energy with employer organizations today. The bill itself was adopted in first reading by the deputies the day before.
After the compensations for businesses will continue and employers give up effective protests on January 15, it became clear from the statement of Vasil Velev, chairman of the Association of Industrial Capital. He explained that the business has had meetings with most political parties and they have confirmed their support for maintaining compensation for businesses.
The idea is to provide compensation in the next three months until the adoption of the 2025 budget. After that, the Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov promised that the program would be extended again.
Employers called on all companies in our country to show understanding and not to rush to calculate the high prices of electricity in their products in January.
Employers again asked for more incentives for signing long-term contracts for the supply of electricity. In this way, the risk of price increases during the winter period can be hedged. Unfortunately, no trader on the Bulgarian Energy Exchange currently offers businesses contracts with a duration of more than a month.
Automatic permanent compensation mechanism
"A permanent compensation mechanism for business is needed, which is automatically activated when electricity prices reach a certain threshold." This was stated by the Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov during the meeting with the Association of Bulgarian Employers' Organizations.
As a short-term measure, the Ministry of Energy proposes that businesses be compensated until the end of March - in accordance with the terms of the so-called extended budget law. "Due to this limitation, the program can operate within this period," the Minister of Energy explained, adding that in parallel, the state is also looking for long-term solutions that will provide peace of mind and predictability for business. The general understanding of the participants in the talks is that the compensation threshold of 180 BGN/MWh should currently be maintained.
The deficit in the "Security of the Electricity System" fund, which is about 105 million BGN, will be covered by the state by a decision of the Council of Ministers, Minister Malinov also informed. "Immediately after the so-called extended budget law is published in the State Gazette, I will request a government meeting at which I will submit for consideration decisions to increase the budget of the compensation program for 2204 and to extend it until March 2025," the Minister of Energy also said. According to him, this program will be proposed for interdepartmental coordination in the first days of next week.
To ensure stability in the fund, which will allow adequate compensation to businesses if necessary, the Ministry of Energy will review the ceiling of producers' revenues above which they owe contributions to the fund, Minister Malinov also informed.