Small and medium-sized companies from Northeast and Southeast Bulgaria are going to have to pay higher electricity prices starting July 1, 2009.
The news was announced Tuesday by the Director of Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), Konstantin Shushulov.
Electricity prices for large companies will not be affected as those entities buy their electricity on the free market, and are not subjected to DKEVR regulation.
However, small and medium-sized firms in Northeast Bulgaria buying their electricity from the German-owned provider E.ON will be paying 4% more, and SMEs in Southeast Bulgaria buying their electricity from Austrian-owned provider EVN will be paying 3% more.
At the same time, electricity for SMEs in Western Bulgaria, where the provider is the Czech-owned company CEZ, will be cheaper by 2,39%.
According to Shushulov, the companies to be affected by the new electricity prices are firms with up to 50 employees and an annual turnover of up to BGN 19,5 M.