Bulgarian Parliament to Hold Hearing of Energy Watchdog over Electricity Prices

The Bulgarian Parliament will start its work on Wednesday by holding a hearing of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) on its proposed model for electricity prices from July 1.

The reason for the hearing is the discontent of business and industry representatives, which are protesting against the planned 20 % increase of electricity prices in the sector.

In return, the chairperson of KEVR Ivan Ivanov announced that the prices of household electricity should be increased.

Business representatives threatened with protests, explaining that such a price hike will increase their expenses, make them uncompetitive on the internal market and force them to lay off workers.

Even Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov expressed readiness to join the protests against the planned increase.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee monitoring the activities of KEVR decided on Tuesday to propose amendments to the Energy Act, which would postpone the price hike with one month.

The amendments to the Energy Act will be discussed at a closed sitting of the parliamentary Energy Committee on Wednesday afternoon.

The MPs will also cast their votes in the plenary chamber on whether to extend the term of the ad-hoc enquiry committee tasked with auditing and assessing the state of the energy sector.

The proposal of KEVR foresees the price of electricity to increase by 22 % on average for industrial users and by 2 % for households.

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