The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) will not support

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) will not support Bulgargaz's new proposal for a 7.5 percent increase in the price of natural gas in February, compared to January. According to the regulator, such a request is unfounded and directly harms household consumers. This was stated at the open meeting of the regulator, which discussed the application of the public supplier for approval of a price for February, at which the public supplier will sell natural gas to end suppliers and to persons who have been issued a license for the production and transmission of heat energy.

" There are no quantities in Bulgargaz's mix that are tied to the price of TTF, " said EWRC Chairman Plamen Mladenovski. Previously, Bulgargaz CEO Veselin Sinabov indicated that the company would request a higher increase than initially made in the application on January 12 this year.

Initially, Bulgargaz proposed a natural gas price for February at 32.34 EUR/MWh, which is an increase of 3.82% compared to the previous month. At the hearing of the meeting, the executive director of Bulgargaz announced a new proposal for a price of 33.50 EUR/MWh. As a reason for the increase, he indicated the increased prices by over 30% on the TTF gas exchange and the Balkan Gas Hub, as well as the increased requests from the company's customers.

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission will not approve a request for a price increase of more than the initially requested 3.82%, was categorical the chairman of the regulator Plamen Mladenovski:

" I categorically do not support the price of household consumers to increase for the sake of fertilizer plants and other industries. I do not think that the Commission will vote for such a decision, regardless of the increased price of TTF and the Bulgarian gas exchange. There are no gas quantities in the Bulgargaz mix that are tied to the price of TTF, which makes the new request for an increase unfounded, " he said. It was recalled that several months ago Bulgargaz confirmed to the Commission that the quantities for the winter period are secured and therefore the company does not plan to increase the price, regardless of the dynamics of the markets.

" By playing the market with non-market methods, we are depriving household consumers of the opportunity to benefit from the lower prices under the contract with Azerbaijan. Due to the short-sighted policy of the previous management of the company, consumers are constantly paying an " incompetence tax ", supplementing the cheaper quantities of Azerbaijani gas with expensive gas, previously purchased at insane prices, which is currently in storage in Turkey. " The Commission will categorically not support such an increase in the price of Bulgargaz as a result of supplementing with extremely expensive, unsaleable quantities, which eliminate the beneficial effect of the contract concluded with Azerbaijan, ” said the Chairman of the EWRC Plamen Mladenovski.

Meanwhile, from the statement of the Executive Director of Bulgargaz, Veselin Sinabov, it became clear that the company fears a cash flow cut due to Sofia District Heating, which is not coping with its payments for the purchase of blue fuel from the company. As is known, at the end of last year, the obligations of the district heating company exceeded 1.2 billion leva. Out of a 100% regulated market, as Sinabov explained, 60% fall to Sofia District Heating.

The price mix for February includes the entire agreed quantity of Azerbaijani natural gas supplied via the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector (IGB), according to the long-term contract with Azerbaijan. These quantities cover a significant part of the consumption for the month and play an important role in the favorable price of the blue fuel. The price mix for the month includes liquefied natural gas (LNG) under contracts concluded with traders, as well as a quantity of production from the Chiren UGS.

On 29.01.2026, the public supplier will submit to EWRC current data forming the price of natural gas. On the same day, the regulator will adopt a final decision, which will be published on the Commission's website.