Electricity pricing

The Public Power Corporation (PPC) board approved a proposal by the Greek state, the basic shareholder, to offer additional discount up to 20% to electricity rates for large electricity consumers during 2016-2017 period.

The forthcoming liberalization of the energy market in Bulgaria is likely to lead to an increase in the prices of the electricity in the country.

This was stated by Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Sunday.

The participants in a discussion on Bulgaria's energy exchange agreed that legal amendments were to pave the way for a change of the model so that the full liberalization of the market was achieved by the beginning of 2016.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) will present Tuesday the possible launch date and the mechanism of functioning of the Bulgarian energy exchange.

One of the reasons behind the delay of the Bulgarian energy exchange is the striving to protect local electricity producers and the external electricity market, according to experts in the sphere, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bulgaria's government is preparing the full liberalization of the energy market, which is expected to solve the financial problems of the sector and guarantee a fair price for household and industrial consumers, according to Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

The four major employers' associations in Bulgaria and the two trade unions have issued a list of demands triggered by the new power price hike, warning to renew and intensify protests in September unless the requirements are fulfilled.

Ivan Ivanov, Chair of Bulgaria's Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR), has attributed calls for his resignation by employers' associations to attempts to protect corporate interests.

Employers' associations demanded the resignation of Ivanov after he announced KEVR's decision to introduce a significant power price hike for industrial consumers as of August 1.

Kiril Domuschiev, Chair of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIBG), has suggested that a decision of the energy watchdog to increase electricity prices will cause protests to continue into September and to intensify in scale.

Vasl Velev, Chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), has argued that electricity tariffs should remain unchanged in the next pricing period.

In a Thursday interview for TV7, Velev claimed that there was no obstacle, be it of legal or economic nature, for Bulgaria's Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) to keep electricity prices unchanged.

Ivan Ivanov, Chair of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR), has said that there is no option to further postpone the entry into force of new electricity prices.

Speaking after a Tuesday meeting of KEVR, he commented that the demands of trade unions and employers' associations for a new postponement could not be met as the law did not allow for that step.