GERB and DPS have taken a bold new step towards increasing the risk of losing billions of free European funding for transformation and innovation in coal energy. The proposal for another budget injection for the state-owned mines “Maritsa East” met the expected support of “Vazrazhdane”, BSP and ITN, combined with pre-election fighting between the parties for even greater state support.
In the end, Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski claimed the credit as their own, announcing at a meeting with trade unionists: “Promised and fulfilled”.
The Parliament also voted definitively on a decision postponing the release of wholesale electricity prices by one year. BSP leader Kornelia Ninova proposed that the postponement be 3 years, as the miners protesting the parliament demanded, but GERB and DPS did not agree.
Thus, for another year, the energy regulator will determine the electricity prices for households, and public suppliers will continue to buy electricity quotas produced for households by the nuclear power plant, TPP “AES Galabovo” and the state TPP “Maritsa Iztok 2”.
For the state-owned TPP, this decision is life-saving, because it will continue to sell its expensive electricity to households.
However, the date for the release of electricity prices remains January 1, 2026, which is the agreement with the European Commission in order for Bulgaria to receive the grant money under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.
However, it is not certain whether the country will not lose these funds.
1 billion from the budget for state mines
GERB, DPS, “Vazrazhdane”, BSP and ITN obliged the Council of Ministers to provide from the budget BGN 250 million per year until 2028. The money is supposed to be used for the reclamation of the land from which the coal was mined, but it is no secret that it is actually provided for salaries of workers there and to quell social tension, and why not to secure voters.
The proposal was submitted a day ago by GERB and quickly approved by the parliamentary energy committee, and immediately after that it was submitted for a final vote before the closing of this parliament. The initial option was to allocate BGN 200 million per year for five years – from 2024 to the beginning of 2029. In the plenary hall, it was decided that the funds would be BGN 250 million, but for four years. In sum, the effect is the same – BGN 1 billion, but in the new version the annual burden on the budget will be slightly greater.
Where will the money come from?
It’s not clear where the money can be provided for this year provided that the state budget is adopted. In principle, there can always be a transfer of budget funds by decision of the Council of Ministers.
Although it is not explicitly written in the text of the decision, the provision of the funds must be approved by the European Commission, because in essence this constitutes state aid for a commercial company, and it is noted that the granting of the money must be done in compliance with the national and Community legislation.
The decision was adopted with 168 votes “for” (GERB, DPS, “Vazrazhdane”, BSP, ITN and four from PP-DB), 38 MPs from PP-DB abstained, and two were against – again from PP-DB
The proposal to increase the annual subsidy and shorten the term was made by Yordan Tsonev from DPS, and his colleague Hamid Hamid explained that four times 250 million is actually five times 200 million BGN.
At the request of Iskra Mihailova from “Vazrazhdane”, it was recorded that the funds will be provided only on the condition that the reclamation activities are carried out only by “Mini Maritsa Iztok”, and it is not allowed to assign or sublet activities to private companies and/or companies with state or municipal participation.
The decision was taken against the background of a protest by miners and energy workers, members of the National Union of Workers’ Union of Ukraine and KT “Podkrepa”, who wanted to protect their jobs and postpone the liberalization of electricity prices for three years.
This was ridden by Kornelia Ninova and it was proposed during the vote on the final postponement of the free electricity prices on the wholesale market that this should be done not until July 1, 2025, but until 2029.
However, the obligation remained from January 1, 2026, for household consumers to buy electricity at exchange prices.
Electricity companies now have until the end of April to submit their applications for prices from 1 July 2024 to the energy regulator.
Until June 30, 2025, the suppliers “Electrohold”, EVN and “EnergoIpro” must conclude contracts to compensate their costs for the fact that from July 1 of the same year they will buy electricity from the exchange, and the government will determine a base price of electricity, which the beat will pay.
By 31 May 2025, they must also carry out information and clarification campaigns for residential end customers on the benefits of market liberalization, the options for choosing a final supplier and the options for compensating prices for residential end customers.
I do not see in what form this preparation will be carried out by the dates you propose, said Radoslav Rybarski (PP-DB) and specified that we are preparing for liberalization from 2019.
While the debates in the plenary hall on energy topics were going on, the coal miners’ protest stopped traffic in the Largoto area of Sofia, as well as on “Tsar Osvoboditel” and “Dondukov” boulevards – from “G.S. Rakovski” street.
“Maritsa – East” is going away. What are we protesting for? Don’t you see? For work, what to protest? For work, for bread. We are here to save our jobs and our livelihoods. I work at the “Bobov dol” thermal power station. If they stop coal mining, they will also stop the thermal power plants. I don’t know where we will go, we have no decision. That’s what we’re here for. The first 160 people have already been laid off in “Maritsa – East”. Redundancies also begin in Bobov dol. And we are concerned about them, and about ourselves, of course,” protestors commented.
“I’m going to pick strawberries in England, and I’m a qualified specialist,” said a participant in the demonstration.
Tags: Borisov Peevski boasted billion budget state mines postponement free electricity prices
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