GERB Warns Higher Electricity Bills Will Push Up Retail Prices in Bulgaria

Opposition party GERB has proposed full state compensation for business electricity costs above EUR 92 per megawatt-hour, with monthly payments, MPs Zhecho Stankov and Temenuzhka Petkova announced at a press conference in the National Assembly.

The parliamentary group has already submitted a draft resolution seeking to introduce the measure retroactively from October 1, 2026.

The proposal would cover micro, small and medium-sized businesses, as well as energy-intensive industries. Stankov said the scheme should apply across all sectors, including hair salons, bakeries and neighborhood shops.

Electricity prices for non-household consumers in October were two and a half times higher than the levels businesses had been used to seeing on the exchange during the summer months, Stankov said. He warned that without compensation, companies would pass the increased costs on to consumers through higher prices for goods and services.

“The only way to prevent the hefty bills that businesses are set to receive in the coming week from being passed on to the prices of goods and services, and from taking a deep bite out of the pockets of every Bulgarian household, is to pull the emergency brake on inflation through concrete measures,” Stankov said.

Under the proposed arrangement, businesses would receive full compensation for electricity costs exceeding EUR 92/MWh, calculated monthly. Stankov argued that the existing system offered insufficient certainty because compensation was calculated over a 10-month period and depended on whether funds were available for payment.

“In this way, we can ensure predictability regarding businesses' electricity bills, guaranteeing that they will have no impact on the final prices of goods and services,” Stankov said.

Former Finance Minister Petkova said the compensation could be funded through the Security of the Electricity System Fund, without additional spending from the state budget.

She said the group's analysis showed that the fund was expected to collect nearly EUR 400 million more than initially forecast from the 5% levy on electricity production and sales. It was also projected to receive an additional EUR 100 million above expectations from emissions-related revenues.

Petkova said the available resources would be sufficient to finance the proposed support. “If the ruling majority is sincere when it says it wants to lower prices and support Bulgarian businesses, then it must adopt the solution we are proposing,” she said.

Stankov said GERB would seek to have the proposal placed on the National Assembly's agenda as early as this week, since businesses were due to receive their electricity bills no later than the beginning of next week.

He warned that failure to approve the measure would result in higher electricity costs being passed on through retail prices.

Stankov also raised concerns about natural gas prices, saying they had doubled during the current government's six months in office. He said no action had been taken to secure long-term supplies at lower fixed prices or to introduce compensation for the 255,000 households using natural gas for heating, cooking and hot water.

GERB-SDS is preparing proposals to support these consumers as well, Stankov said, adding that the measures would be designed not to require additional funds from the state budget.

Turning to the National Audit Office's report, Petkova said its findings undermined the ruling coalition's statements about so-called invoiced liabilities. She referred to page 136, which, according to her, says that the 1,077 identified certificates had not been approved by the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA).

“One thing is made indisputably clear in the National Audit Office's report: the entire narrative pushed by those in power regarding 'invoiced budgets' has effectively collapsed,” Petkova said.

She noted that the certificates could be approved in 2026, provided the activities covered by them had been fully completed. The report also explicitly records that no invoices had been issued, she said.

“The National Audit Office states unequivocally that there are no invoices—no invoices have been issued. So, what is this talk about a 'bad legacy' or 'old liabilities' that the current government claims to be settling?” the former finance minister asked.

Petkova said she believed the government's public statements on the issue had harmed Bulgaria's reputation both among European institutions and domestically.