During the meeting, the possibility of South-Eastern European countries requesting compensation from the European Commission in connection with the extremely high prices for electricity in the region was discussed. Enterprises in the region are experiencing huge negative consequences due to the imperfection of pricing in the European electricity market, the lack of sufficient interconnectivity with Western and Northern Europe, as well as the burden of ensuring energy security in the context of electricity shortages in Ukraine and Moldova.
The Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE) and Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov discussed the creation of special compensation instruments that would be automatically activated in crisis situations with electricity prices. AOBE's proposal is to develop two instruments: one universal for all non-household consumers and one special for energy-intensive enterprises.
For AOBE, the instruments must be part of a mechanism that is governed by a permanent law and is automatically activated and deactivated when price crises begin or end.
The objective of this mechanism is to ensure predictability, sustainability and competitiveness in the medium term, thereby stimulating investment in Bulgarian industry. According to representatives of employers' organizations, this could become the most significant anti-inflationary measure, as well as a significant support for the income and employment of workers and specialists in the country.
A proposal was discussed according to which the universal instrument for non-residential consumers would have a “bottom” threshold, below which consumers would make contributions to the Electricity System Security Fund (ESSF) and electricity producers would receive compensation, and a “peak” threshold, above which producers would make contributions to the ESSF at the appropriate threshold values by type of generation and electricity consumers would receive compensation.
One of the options for supporting energy-intensive companies is to provide support in return to the commitments made by the companies to invest in renewable energy sources, the electricity from which will be returned to the Bulgarian market. Other mechanisms will be discussed within the working group.
"I will appoint a responsible deputy minister as soon as possible and will set up a working group within which we can jointly begin developing this mechanism. I believe that this should become part of the long-term policy for the electricity market in Bulgaria. I have already met with representatives of the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and the electricity distribution companies, with whom we discussed the possibility of preparing large joint projects to improve the infrastructure," said Minister Stankov.
During the meeting, the possibility of South-Eastern European countries requesting compensation from the European Commission in connection with the extremely high prices for electricity in the region was discussed. Enterprises in the region are experiencing huge negative consequences due to the imperfection of pricing in the European electricity market, the lack of sufficient interconnectivity with Western and Northern Europe, as well as the burden of ensuring energy security in the context of electricity shortages in Ukraine and Moldova.
The energy minister promised to discuss the issue with his EU counterparts during a meeting in Brussels on February 17-18.