Power bill subsidies slashed

The government has significantly reduced the level of electricity bill subsidization for February, given the considerable decline in international natural gas rates, which have slashed the cost of electricity production.

On Tuesday Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas announced that the subsidy on household electricity tariffs for February, for 90% of consumption (up to 500 KWh per month), is set at 4 cents per kilowatt-hour, or 40 euros per megawatt-hour, down from €330/MWh in January.

This means that the sum of state subsidies for the year's second month is reduced to just €95 million, from €840 million in January.

As the minister pointed out, this is a period when natural gas prices are falling steeply globally, which is also a result of the adoption of the European mechanism for a cap on natural gas prices. "Today, we are in a period of drastic de-escalation of...