Bulgarian President Rumen Radev imposed a suspensory veto on the revisions to the Energy Act adopted by the National Assembly in early October. Radev said that the full liberalization of the electricity market for households by 2026, envisaged by the law, does not provide for protection of energy-poor and vulnerable users, which EU law enables and requires.
Radev said that the standard of living of the majority of Bulgarian citizens remains the lowest in the EU, and the amendments could make life even more difficult precisely for the people who can barely make ends meet. The law has moved away from the objectives of the social state and has been adopted without an accompanying impact assessment even though it makes provisions affecting Bulgarian citizens’ well-being and the stability of the energy system.
He warned that the balanced adjustment of regulated prices until their leveling with free market prices is supposed to happen within a short period of 18 months (from July 2024 to December 2025), which may lead to a spike of prices for household end-users in early 2026. In his opinion, the too narrow definition of energy poverty, the lack of clarity in the compensation mechanism and the uncertainty that there will be enough financial resources to aid those in need do not provide sufficient guarantees that the transition will be smooth.
The President insists that the cessation of the functioning of the National Electricity Company (NEK) as a public provider from 1 July 2024 and the abolition of electricity producer quotas in the mix for the regulated market may force TPP Maritsa East 2 to discontinue the generation of electricity and will endanger the operation of the Maritsa East coalmines as early as in the middle of 2024.
