The liberalization of the electricity market is postponed until July 1, 2025. The decision was taken with 152 votes in favor of GERB-SDS, DPS, Vazrazhdane, BSP and ITN. 35 deputies from the PP-DB abstained, and another 7 from the same group voted “against”.
With the adopted changes in the Law on Energy, KEVR will continue to set quotas of state power plants for electricity produced for the regulated market. NEK maintains its status as a public household supplier until July 1, 2025 – at prices determined by the regulator.
The main argument of the proponents of the postponement proposal is that our country is not ready and this will drastically burden consumers.
PP-DB’s concerns are that the delay could lead to a loss of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. And the BSP proposed a postponement of not one, but three years.
Deputies vote on the second reading of the amendments to the Energy Act
Proposals for energy reforms came from BSP, GERB-SDS, DPS and ITN. The motives of the importers – the system is not ready for the free market, and consumers will be burdened. “I think that the argumentation with which the amendments to the Energy Act were made – that we should receive the money for PVU, do not give grounds for accepting things that are not obligatory for us,” said Pavela Mitova from ITN.
The only ones who said “no” to the postponement of the liberation were PP-DB. “If you don’t like the PVU, don’t use money. You both want the wolf full and the sheep whole. I don’t think that the EC will remain uninvolved in what you will do today”, said Radoslav Rybarski from PP-DB. After a short break and a meeting with the protesting miners, a new proposal came. The BSP insisted – a free electricity market only after three years. “You all know that the system is not ready for this liberalization. This is what the ERPs and KEVR told us at meetings. They also think that the period we have proposed is not enough for the preparation of the system”, said Cornelia Ninova. And the idea again met with the disagreement of the PP. “I do not see in what form this preparation will take place by the dates you propose. We are preparing for liberalization from 2019,” said Rybarski.
“Colleagues, nothing has been done for 5 years. How do you think it will turn out in a year?”, asked Cornelia Ninova.
“It is not normal to simply throw the most energy-poor and vulnerable nation in the EU onto the free market and whatever happens to it, that is. During these 10 months of managing the “assembly”, at least one simulation could have been done”, stated Yordan Todorov from “Vazrazhdane”. In the end, without the votes of the PP-DB, the deputies decided – the free market will be exited from the summer of 2025, when NEK and KEVR will no longer be able to administratively set the price on the electricity market.
In parallel, the deputies decided to allocate 250 million BGN to the “Maritsa-Iztok” mine. The aid is for technical reclamation in the Mariska basin for a period of 4 years – until 2028.
