“We will not allow a sharp increase in the price of natural gas, nor electricity and heating,” said Chair of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) Ivan Ivanov during his hearing in parliament on the proposals for new electricity and heating prices for the pricing period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, as well as the upcoming examination and validation of new business plans of water supply operators and price formation of water and sewerage services for the regulatory period 2022 - 2026.

"I would like to note that every year energy companies offer extremely high price leaps, some of them really too strange, but KEVR considers these proposals only as an information base", said Ivanov, quoted by Focus. The Chair of KEVR stated that the interests of Bulgarian citizens are protected.

"To be more convincing, I would like to point out that last year the average increase that the country's district heating companies demanded was 41 percent. The average increase in the price of electricity generated in a highly efficient way was 25 percent. The Commission rejected all these requests of the district heating companies", Ivanov explained. He reminded that in the past year there have been reductions in these prices.

Before Ivan Ivanov's hearing, the floor leader of "Stand Up! Mafiosi out!" Maya Manolova pointed out that they insisted on today's hearing of KEVR because of apprehensions and concern of both Bulgarian citizens and Members of the National Assembly about the impending increase in heating and electricity costs. She noted that the highest increase was 138 percent requested by "District Heating"-Gabrovo, BTA reported.

In its previous work, KEVR did not give a clear sign that it was able to strike a balance between the interests of energy companies and Bulgarian consumers, Manolova said. She noted that the upcoming decision will apply for a whole calendar year.