"Bulgargaz" seeks 60% higher gas price for August

Bulgaria’s public gas supplier "Bulgargaz" confirmed its forecast for an increase in the price of natural gas, proposing a price of 297.89 BGN per MWh for August. This became clear from a message on the company's website on August 1.

The public supplier is demanding 60% increase compared to the price for July, which was 186.17 BGN/MWh.

The proposed changes in the price at which the state-owned company sells natural gas to end-suppliers and customers that have been issued a license for generation and transmission of heat, are calculated on the basis of the BNB exchange rates (excluding excise duty and VAT).

The proposed price, at which Bulgargaz will sell natural gas to the final suppliers and to persons, who have been issued a license for production and transmission of heat, is calculated according to the BNB fixing (without excise duty and VAT).

The reason for the increase is the high prices at which the state-owned company buys blue fuel. For comparison, prices on European gas markets for deliveries in August 2022 exceed EUR 171/MWh, Bulgargas said.

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) is due to schedule a date for a public hearing on the public supplier’s application.

The blue fuel price for August should have already been approved, but on 21 July the Constitutional Court declared the appointment of the now former chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, Stanislav Todorov, unconstitutional. After several days of political tension, the Bulgarian Parliament reinstated Ivan Ivanov at the head of the energy regulator.