Chairman of Bulgarian Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) Stanislav Todorov said that there will be no electricity price hikes for residential consumers for now, but, as of 1 July, the price may be increased by 10 %, depending on the development of situation in Ukraine.
Todorov explained that KEVR currently recalculates all the components that make up the final price of electricity, adding that the situation is stable, as the country produces almost all the electricity it consumes.
According to him, by the end of the month, there will be new rules to strengthen the regulation of the free electricity market. He said tha the lack of regulation has led to huge risks, which are included in the electricity bills of commercial consumers. He said that the new rules have to bring stability to the market, but did not specify whether this means cheaper electricity.
Todorov also said that natural gas could rise, depending on the situation in Ukraine. That is why alternatives to gas supplies are being sought if Russia decides to suspend gas supply to Bulgaria. Bulgargaz has long-term supply contracts for huge quantities, but prices are indexed to international exchanges, so the prices may rise. However, if the war ends and western sanctions fall, the price will drop dramatically.
As an alternative to Russian gas, Todorov mentioned supplies from Azerbaijan and the Chiren storage facility. He accused the previous management of Bulgargaz of giving up two-thirds of the supply of cheaper Azeri gas in October last year, saying it did not need that much.
He also said that Bulgaria should look for all possible ways to use the capacity of the extension of TurkStream pipeline (so-called Balkan Stream), which the former Government built for some 1.7 billion euros in order to be able to transit Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary.
