Bulgarians Join Balkan Protest Against Soaring Food Prices
Bulgaria has joined Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro in organizing protests against rising food prices
A shocking rise in prices for heating and hot water awaits consumers in gasified homes, after January 1, the blue fuel rose by a record 30%.
30% Price Increase of the Blue Fuel
This will increase the bills by at least BGN 200-300, intermediary companies estimate, quoted by Nova TV. For now, the invoices of households for heating and electricity remain frozen, but experts warn that after the fall of the moratorium, the rise may catch up. Additionally, the new heating bills will go up due to the expected cold snap in January. Thus, exactly how much the bills will increase at the end of this month will depend on the temperatures outside and the size of the apartments.
"This increase, which happened after the EWRC decision, is extremely dangerous and is a warning for worse opportunities, not so much about a lack of energy resources for heating and lighting. Many household customers will face bankruptcy due to the high price of natural gas, and even more, so those small electricity consumers will also face the risk of bankruptcy. This applies to producers of bread and confectionery, as well as other small companies that use both gas and electricity from the free market," energy expert Elenko Bozhkov told BGNES.
In fact, with the rise in the price of natural gas, it will become the most expensive heating option this winter.
"A small one-bedroom panel apartment on natural gas is heated for about 350 leva per month, while the heating price is 250 leva. Heating with natural gas is more expensive than heating with conventional electrical appliances," Bozhkov said.
He added that the entire market was concentrated on the independent energy exchange, which led to the fact that companies could not be supplied with energy from long-term contracts. The gas connection with Greece has not been completed on time, the opportunities given to us by direct negotiations with Azerbaijan to negotiate another way to use the entire quantities of Azerbaijani gas have not been used, and the nuclear power plant has not been given the opportunity to increase its production for household consumers.
However, Bozhkov is optimistic that the shock jump in prices will pass in a month, as a sign of the ongoing decline in natural gas prices.
/OFFNews
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