Nearly BGN 700 million is owed by the Sofia District Heating Company of BEH

The liabilities of Sofia District Heating to the Bulgarian Energy Holding / BEH / are close to BGN 700 million, the executive director of the state energy holding Valentin Nikolov told BNR. He specified that since March the capital company has not transferred money to repay even the interest on them.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding has bought the debt of Sofia District Heating to Bulgargaz several times in recent years, but currently such an opportunity is not envisaged. A possible increase in the price of heating by 20%, as required by district heating due to the gas jump, also cannot solve the problem, said Valentin Nikolov.

"Even if they raise the price by 20%, which I hope will not happen, it will solve the problem with their current obligations, not their past ones."

According to Nikolov, an option for dealing with the situation is the granting of a low-interest loan by the municipality or the state. "Since Sofia also has a good rating, the credit rating of the state is also good, they can provide a loan to Sofia District Heating so that it can service the loans that are with us. In order for it to subsequently implement its investment program, "Nikolov commented.

According to the executive director of BEH, "district heating in the current form cannot service its current liabilities, let alone the accumulated liabilities over the years".

"Even interest has not been paid since March. They want renegotiation - well, we will sit down and negotiate renegotiation, but this in no way solves the problem, "said Valentin Nikolov.