The recovery and sustainability plan will be sent to Brussels by 15 October

Bulgaria's recovery and sustainability plan will be submitted to the European Commission no later than October 15th. This was announced by the caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev. He noted that for the most part it has already been completed, but there is still some work to be done, the challenges are great, but the necessary measures have been taken. According to him, the talks and clarifications with the experts should be completed by the end of next week, and so no later than October 15, Bulgaria's Plan should be in Brussels.

Regarding the problem with the final closure of coal-fired power plants in our country and the direct connection of this with the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, Yanev commented that at the moment in our energy strategy it is written that this should happen by 2036, but talks are still under way with the EC, which aims to extend the deadline, as the sector employs an extremely large number of people. President Rumen Radev also expressed his opinion on postponing the deadline of 2036 yesterday.

The Prime Minister summed up that the issue is complex and part of the solution to the problem of carbon emissions is set in the Plan. "Simultaneously with the search for opportunities to replace coal capacity with other fuels, we must think about the retraining of workers in the sector," Yanev was quoted as saying by BTA. He added that all this should be resolved within the next week as a package.

Regarding the price of gas and measures to protect business, the caretaker Prime Minister said that such measures have not been discussed yet, but this will happen in the future. "We have explained to the Bulgarian citizens in as much detail and openness as possible what the government can do to protect the citizens," the prime minister answered another question about electricity prices.

According to him, they are determined by the market, as electricity is traded on the stock exchange. "As a country in the pan-European market, we cannot directly influence the price of electricity," Yanev explained. However, he clarified that so far an option has been found for business compensation, so that small and medium-sized enterprises, which are most vulnerable, are protected in the period when prices will be highest.

"We will not interfere directly in the activities of the energy exchange, but we will do everything possible to conclude deals as transparently as possible to avoid practices of distortion of market methods, especially by large traders," Yanev stressed and assured that they have already been appointed  a number of checks.

Asked by reporters about the connection between the high price of electricity and the increased costs of water companies, the prime minister said that the water holding company should build its own trading company to buy electricity directly from the stock exchange. "This is my call to all electricity consumers, young and old, to protect their own interests by choosing a suitable trader or negotiating packages directly from the exchange - there are already 36-month-olds," said Yanev.