Water prices in Sofia will be reduced by slightly over 4%, according to Milena Milanova, member of Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR).

Milanova, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), made clear Tuesday that the new price would be conclusively adopted within a month.

Sofia residents currently pay BGN 1.68 per cubic meter of water.

She suggested that the price cut would be introduced because water losses had not been reduced.

She added that DKEVR had not recognized a substantial portion of the expenses declared by the water utility servicing the capital, Sofiyska Voda.

Meanwhile, Sofia's water utility has been demanding a 14% increase in water prices since January.

According to reports of the Bulgarian Water Association, as cited by investor.bg, water losses in the country amount to nearly 60% of the total output.

According to the BWA, water losses in 2012 amounted to 566 million cubic meters out of a total of 930 million cubic meters.

On March 29, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova suggested that there was no reason to increase water tariffs in the capital.

She argued that the existing water prices allowed the utility to fulfill its investment program for 2013.

Stressing that the concession contract for the water utility, which had been signed some 10 years ago, was highly unprofitable for the capital, Fandakova noted that it could be terminated in the case of two consecutive penalties established by the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR).

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