Bulgarian Parliament adopted a decision to extend existing compensations to mitigate the effects of high electricity costs for businesses until the end of 2023.
Under the current measures active since the state budget revision was adopted by the previous Parliament, all non-household consumers are fully compensated for the difference between the real average monthly base load price of the day-ahead market of the Bulgarian Independent Electricity Exchange (IBEX) for the relevant month and the base price of 128 euros/MWh.
The mechanism for compensations, which are paid out by the Electricity System Security Fund through contributions received from state-owned energy enterprises, was due to expire at the end of 2022.
The Parliament also decided to implement a compensation base price of 102 euros/MWh for large industrial consumers, provided that they have invested in energy efficiency improvements and the development of renewable energy sources for their own use.
Caretaker Minister of Energy Rossen Hristov said that lowering the base price for certain industrial consumers of high-voltage electricity will entail additional payments of some 9 million euros per month from the Security Fund.
In September, the caretaker Government allocated some 1.85 billion euros to continue paying out subsidies to industrial consumers, electricity suppliers and network operators until the end of 2022.
