Consumer prices of hot water, heating, and natural gas are going up in Bulgaria effective Sunday April 1.

Despite the reached agreement with Russia's Gazprom for an 11% natural gas discount for Bulgaria, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz is going to sell products to end consumers with higher prices than the first quarter of 2011.

Prices of natural gas which are the base of heating and hot water prices are determined each quarter by the State watchdog – the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, DKEVR. These prices are different for different cities, but for all there is a price hike effective Sunday. The cities of Shumen, Plovdiv and Sofia and the town of Kazanlak are among the record breakers.

In the second quarter, Bulgargaz will sell to heating utilities natural gas for a price 13% higher compared to the first quarter, which is the reason for the new steep consumer prices. Bulgargaz even asked DKEVR for an increase of 26%, grounding it on the worsening finances of the company over uncollected payments, but it was rejected.

Bulgargaz purchases Russian "blue fuel," however the 11% discount on the part of Gazprom, which was negotiated Friday by the Bulgarian delegation in Moscow, is not yet going to be felt by consumers. This could happen no earlier than the third quarter i.e. July 1, 2012.

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