Power Rate Hike Will Not Affect Big Enterprises in Bulgaria – Expert

The Chair of the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers has said that a potential power price hike will not affect big enterprises due to the competitive environment.

In a Monday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, Konstantin Stamenov suggested that the country lacked an electricity market.

The Chair of BFIEC insisted that the energy sector was plagued by "unwholesome" occurrences which affected the country's economy.

"This has to stop. Bulgaria has to focus efforts on the liberalization of the electricity market, to think of more sources of natural gas, more gas grid interconnections. At the same time, if any large-scale projects are implemented, they should be as transparent as possible, cost-efficient, compatible with EU law, and with a clear price tag, deadline and implementation process," Stamenov declared.

He underscored that Bulgaria had no access to a regional market and regional electricity prices, stressing that this lack cemented inefficiencies in the domestic energy sector.

"Probably over 90% of the contracts stipulate one and the same price tag which applies 24 hours a day, which indicates that there is no market. We have no night-time tariff, no weekend tariff, no peak-hour tariff, but at the same time we have a division in electricity production, with maximum restrictions to some capacities, while other capacities are used," the Chair of BFIEC noted.

He said that the absurd case of reaching a price tag of BGN 2000 per MWh had been reached over the past two months, adding that such a record rate was totally unjustifiable.

Stamenov recommended finding a mechanism to get rid of the inefficiencies and electricity thefts before introducing a power price hike for natural consumers.

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