Minister Malinov: Next year's budget includes 400 million leva for the liberalization of the energy market

Next year's budget includes over 400 million leva for preparations for the liberalization of household electricity, Acting Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov told journalists. He recalled that the liberalization of the household electricity market is included in the Energy Law of January 1, 2026. According to him, whether this will happen depends on the political parties.

We, as the executive branch, want to know when and what actions and measures to take, including financial ones, since according to the current legislation, by the second half of next year there must be a compensatory mechanism, which will be approved by the Council of Ministers at the proposal of the Minister of Energy and must be financially secured. The budget is yet to be voted on and we have provided for such a mechanism in the budget, we expect to see what the members of parliament will decide, said Malinov.

In his words, Bulgartransgaz expects Gazprom to indicate how it will make its payments for the transit of Russian gas from Turkey through Bulgaria to Serbia, which have so far been made through Gazprombank.

Bulgartransgaz is fulfilling the contracts on time and with the required quality. From now on, the company, which has reserved capacity and has been making payments through Gazprombank, must find a solution if it wants to continue to be provided with the service. There is still time, as of now all payments that are due have been made. The sanctions regime that was introduced by the US provides for a transitional period until December 20. So, for December the services are defensible. From now on we are waiting for Gazprom's proposal," he said.