After the new Bulgarian coalition government has announced a number of priorities in the energy sector, for the period 2017-2021, (most notably are: the full liberalization of the natural gas and electricity market; preparation of a new national “energy strategy” for 2020-2030 to implement the new EU targets for 2030 and to be in line with the environmental challenges related to climate change; given the good interconnectivity that Bulgaria enjoys in the electricity sector, the new government aspires to complete the connection with other countries for natural gas by 2020, such as Greece, Serbia and Turkey), Bulgarian energy operator Bulgartransgaz said the price of natural gas in Bulgaria will not go up by more than 2.4% after the introduction of the new system on the natural gas market.
Bulgartransgaz, which carries out licensing activities for the transmission and storage of natural gas and which guarantees natural gas to most bulgarian users, presented the analysis during a meeting with the Sofia Ministry of Energy, adding that the new tariff system better reflects actual service costs and investments on the electricity grid. However, the large industrial consumers of gas fear that their expenses would increase significantly as a result of the introduction of the new market model.

Kevr, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, will check again the calculations of Bulgartransgaz.. Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, after meeting with representatives of Bulgarian energy consumers, said: ” For us it is very important for the industry to develop under market conditions and to be competitive but at the same time, however, the country must comply with European rules and change the pricing model”.