Employers and trade unions joined in a protest against the high electricity prices in front of the Council of Ministers’ building on Tuesday, 19
October. The reason for protesting is the lack of adequate and timely measures on the part of the Government.
On 18 October, the leaderships of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), the Union for Private Economic Enterprise (UPEE), the Confederation of Bulgarian Tourist Business, as well as those of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Labour Confederation demanded immediate compensation at the disposal of the state to the amount of 75 % of the difference between the forecast energy regulator price and the actual price of electricity for non-household consumers on the free market.
According to these organizations, the regulator’s forecast price is 60.9 euros/MWh and the price for non-household consumers on the free market in the past week has averaged at 205 euros/MWh. Each such consumer should get support for the period from August 2021 until the month when the price goes back to normal, whereby the energy price for industry will approach that on the regulated market. In just a few months, some 1.3- 1.5 billion euros will be sucked out of the economic and social system if immediate and adequate measures are not taken. Otherwise the result will be a total collapse: stopped enterprises, bankrupt traders, and the risk of interrupted electricity supply.
