AOBE: The State has to introduce urgently the Programme to compensate businesses due to high electricity prices on the free market

High electricity prices have prompted Bulgarian employers to request that the state should take protective measures. In order to support the Bulgarian economy and preserve the Bulgarian industry, it is imperative that the Council of Ministers adopts a Programme to Compensate Electricity Prices for non-domestic end customers. The Association of Bulgarian Employers' Organisations (AOBE) insists on this in a Letter to the institutions and adds that "electricity prices, which are among the highest in the European Union, are fatal for the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy and industry both within the EU and on third-country markets. In the last few years, our country's industry has suffered an energy crisis with high electricity and natural gas prices. Its competitiveness is put under additional pressure due to the fact that Bulgaria is an external border of the European Union. The industry in our country has survived thanks to the compensations for electricity prices, which cover the differences between the market price and the amount of BGN 200/MWh.

A renewal of the compensation mechanism is the only way to keep the enterprises’ competitiveness with their main rivals and markets in the European Union, where the price of electricity is between 2 and 3 times lower than the Bulgarian price.

Letter of AOBE to the institutions: HERE