Asen Vassilev admitted that there may be no increase in the price of electricity after the lifting of the moratorium

The financial resource for supporting household consumers of natural gas is set aside. This was assured by the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev in the BTV program "120 minutes". According to him, the support to household consumers of blue fuel will be for the months from December to March. It is about the previously planned and announced BGN 200 million. However, the scheme must also be notified by the European Commission. This promise has already been announced by the Minister of Energy a week ago.

"The resource has already been set aside by a decision of the Council of Ministers and the decision of the National Assembly as part of BGN 800 million of budget funds. The specific scheme is currently being developed by the Ministry of Energy. I assume that in a few days it will be ready and will be notified to Europe to start supporting, "Vassilev said.

He expressed the expectation from the Ministry of Energy to give details on how it will become technological and what the aid will be.

Asked what the composition of the EWRC and rising prices on European stock exchanges have in common, the Minister of Finance said that "We may have rising gas and electricity prices on world stock exchanges, we are currently fully integrated into the electricity exchanges for the first year and this is behind some of the high prices, but what the EWRC has in common are a few things, he said. According to him, "first these exchanges must be regulated. This is done either through the relevant regulations or rules for trading on stock exchanges, or through regulations of the EWRC in the general case, separately and the law on energy, "he said and said in response to a question that it is about what deals can be concluded, what are the collaterals, what type of guarantees are allowed on the exchanges, standard contracts of traders with end customers, so that no one is surprised. If a trader has a contract with an end customer, he suddenly stops performing it, that trader's license can be taken away, for example, "Vassilev said. "So how the trade is structured, what the rights of the stock exchange are, all this is determined by the regulator. Of course, from the legislation, and then the regulator must exercise control, "he said.

Vassilev also said that before making price decisions, the EWRC has obligations to review the estimates, "that is, what were the actual costs of the companies and business plans - what are the future costs of these companies. This is not just done on paper, it is necessary to go through a real audit process, "Vassilev said. We remind you that according to the current practice of the EWRC, the relevant reports as a result of such inspections are published before the price decision.

The Minister of Finance went back eight years, recalling the time when he was acting Minister of Energy, explaining that then, for example, reserves were found in the electricity system. Based on his experience, Vassilev later said that after the moratorium was lifted, the increase in the price of electricity for households could be "zero".

Commenting on the opinion of the EWRC chairman Ivan Ivanov, expressed earlier by the Bulgarian National Radio, that the regulator has found a mechanism for a smaller jump in electricity prices, Vassilev said that the government has also found a way. According to him, it is a question of the government's support for the electricity distribution companies for the electricity for technological costs, bought from the stock exchange in the "day ahead" segment.

"First, the government provided compensation for electricity distribution companies for the difference between the price set in their July price decisions and the price of exchange electricity they buy for losses along the route, which was one of the main reasons for the increase in electricity in the price decision of the EWRC. This is currently set as aid provided from the budget to electricity distribution companies. Accordingly, it should not burden future electricity bills. Also, if all the expenses of all companies in the chain are reviewed, I am sure that additional savings will be found, which would allow not to increase the electricity bills of the citizens, "Vassilev said. He clarified that this could be done within a month and a half, but it is also important what their foreign contracts and activities are.The Minister of Finance clarified that at the moment, due to the imposed moratorium, there will be no change in the prices of electricity for household consumers.

With regard to business, he clarified that the scheme is currently being consulted and the compensation option will be proposed next week. "After the working meeting with the business, at which it became clear that we had different forecasts, we clarified our position. We are currently consulting and next week we will come up with a general compensation scheme. As a compromise solution, we agreed that compensation is not just a percentage of the price, but to have a solid component, "said the minister. He described the resource for compensation as unprecedented - BGN 2 billion in 4 months.

According to Asen Vassilev, prices in Bulgaria are high due to electricity exports. According to him, even higher quota prices cannot justify higher electricity values ​​of the order of BGN 400 in Bulgaria.

Asked about gas exports to Romania from Chiren, Asen Vassilev said he had received a signal from SANS and the economic police, and that services were working to shed light on the problem.

The Minister of Finance also pointed out that, in principle, there is an increase in pensions, by an average of about BGN 65, depending on length of service.