Taking into account the constructive talks with the parliamentaryly represented political parties and the understanding of the dramatic situation of the Bulgarian industry, which threatens to sink the national economy, we, the social partners of the Republic of Bulgaria, in anticipation of the formation of a regular government, postpone the national protest announced for January 15, 2025, remain on protest alert and remind that:
• The current levels of electricity prices for NON-household consumers are unbearable for most enterprises - both from the real production sector and the service sector, as well as for those from the educational, healthcare, cultural and social spheres. They are twice as high as household prices in our country and the prices paid by our competitors! They are a consequence of a number of factors, such as: the wrong design of the European energy market, the lack of connectivity of energy networks, the imperatives of the European Green Deal and others;
• Compensations are vital to correct the shortcomings of the European energy market and restore the competitiveness of Bulgarian enterprises and especially the real sector, which has been damaged as a result;
• Without compensations, over 600 thousand non-household subscribers are subjected to price shock - not only large and medium-sized industrial enterprises, but also small businesses. These include hospitals, water supply and sanitation companies, theaters, museums and other cultural institutions, kindergartens and schools, state and municipal departments and enterprises, and other consumers;
• This leads to the insolvency of enterprises, endangers not only the growth of wages and their regular payment, but also the jobs themselves. It leads to inflation and impoverishment.
The talks held with the parliamentary groups of:
o GERB – UDF,
o "We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria",
o "Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning",
o "Democracy, Rights and Freedoms" – DRF,
o "BSP – UNITED LEFT",
o "There is Such People",
showed their understanding of the seriousness of the situation and the presence of the will to find a solution. But it must be sustainable and valid as long as there is a risk of price crises in the electricity sector and, accordingly, a loss of competitiveness of enterprises in Bulgaria for this reason.
In the hope that a regular government will soon be formed, which will find and arrange such a solution in a dialogue mode, we, the Bulgarian social partners and our members, remain ready for a national protest, but we are postponing the date of its holding. We insist that the work on finding a sustainable solution that would not allow electricity prices to rise (calculations should be with a threshold of 180 leva per megawatt-hour) should not be stopped. We insist, along with extending the program for compensating non-household consumers for the first quarter of 2025, that a permanent compensation mechanism be developed and enshrined in law, which would be automatically activated in crisis situations. We also recall our demands:
• We insist on compensation for OVER-consumption for each NON-household consumer of electricity, which would bring the price of electricity for industry at least closer to that of the regulated market. For the period from January 2025 until the month when the price normalizes.
• Compensations must be immediate!
• Compensations must be adequate and fair.
• Compensations must be for everyone.
• We demand additional measures to limit the damage to the Bulgarian economy from the surge in electricity prices and other energy carriers.
We call on our members not to increase the prices of manufactured goods and services and not to stop work due to excessively high electricity prices, due to the agreed threshold of 180 leva, which program we expect the Government to adopt within days and with a validity period of 01-01-2025.
Our protest and demands are not political!
