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Employers’ organizations insist on resuming negotiations with Gazprom and resuming gas supplies. “Electricity compensations for businesses must also be extended.”
The proposal of Ninova and the employers is to cover the compensation from the over-profits of the energy companies. They will also propose to the government, with the extra profits, to extend the electricity aid for non-household consumers until the gas problem is solved.
The opinion of employers is that we have no other alternative to Russian gas. “We urge Bulgaria, following the example of other EU member states, to fulfill the conditions of the long-term contract. Otherwise, we will consume Russian natural gas, but delivered through traders and intermediaries. We will not pay the difference in price, which will be 30-40%.” , Dobri Mitrev from BIA was categorical.
Vasil Velev from BICA explained that regarding the compensations for electricity the employers propose to take as a basis the price of the electricity mix, which is about BGN 150-160 and the difference over this amount to be compensated with 75% of the excess profits. “Currently, our members do not know what to do in May, whether to produce and sign contracts, some do not accept orders because they do not know what the energy prices will be,” said Kiril Domuschiev of CEIBG. According to him, national protests by business are a last resort and they hope they will not be reached.
“We are worried about what is happening with the suspension of gas supplies. We propose to save the Bulgarian national economy and industry, to preserve people’s jobs, to provide them with a decent income and to take measures that will not pump up inflation, but reduce it, “said Ninova.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, on Friday GERB wants an extraordinary session of the National Assembly to hear the Ministers of Energy and Finance and the Prime Minister, and to decide on sending weapons to Ukraine. “The BSP will submit a proposal for a decision at this sitting for the parliament to adopt a decision to freeze gas prices as they are now, and the difference to be borne by the state. If it is most important for GERB at the moment to export weapons to Ukraine and put into war, for us the most important are the Bulgarian economy, production, control of prices “, the BSP leader was categorical.
She said she believed she and the “Continuing Change” partners could find a common solution to gas. The law on taxing the excess profits of energy companies has already been discussed during the coalition council.
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