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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Bulgargaz seeks 26.4 per cent gas price increase, regulator opposed
Repeating a pattern set in recent years, Bulgaria's state-run gas company Bulgargaz and the energy regulator once again came to blows on March 10 concerning the next gas price increase.
First, the gas company requested a 26.42 per cent price hike from April 1, only for Angel Semerdjiev, head of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC), to come out and say that the demands were exaggerated and unrealistic.
Semerdjiev's counter-proposal was for a 15 per cent increase.
Economy Minister Traycho Traykov, who attended a meeting of Parliament's economic policies committee, declined to comment, as did MPs, who said they were not familiar with the company's reasoning.
On previous occasions, Bulgargaz generally sought a sharper rise, only for the regulator to approve an increase of slightly more than half the size requested. In January, prices rose by 10.45 per cent against a request for 17.02 per cent.
The requested hike would deal another heavy blow to the industrial sector and heating utilities. According to SEWRC calculations, a 15 per cent upward revision in gas tariffs would translate into an average 11 per cent rise in heating rates nationwide.
"Such a request is rather far-fetched and even cynical," Anton Petrov, chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry, told Dnevnik.
Bulgargaz’ price hike proposal has been taking shape since mid-February, when the company estimated it would need to charge 16.62 per cent higher rates, based on the higher prices of alternative gas fuels on the international markets, the exchange rate with the US dollar and proceeds from due revenue for the third quarter.
The current tariff, 413.24 leva for 1000 cubic metres, would go up to 522.40 leva if the watchdog granted the requested increase.
Konstantin Stamenov, chairperson of the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers, told Dnevnik there is no sense in Bulgaria moving against the global trend, which is for gas prices to go down because of oversupply. He said that by robbing Bulgaria's industrial sector of its competitive edge, this policy would doom the sector.
Source: Dnevnik
First, the gas company requested a 26.42 per cent price hike from April 1, only for Angel Semerdjiev, head of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC), to come out and say that the demands were exaggerated and unrealistic.
Semerdjiev's counter-proposal was for a 15 per cent increase.
Economy Minister Traycho Traykov, who attended a meeting of Parliament's economic policies committee, declined to comment, as did MPs, who said they were not familiar with the company's reasoning.
On previous occasions, Bulgargaz generally sought a sharper rise, only for the regulator to approve an increase of slightly more than half the size requested. In January, prices rose by 10.45 per cent against a request for 17.02 per cent.
The requested hike would deal another heavy blow to the industrial sector and heating utilities. According to SEWRC calculations, a 15 per cent upward revision in gas tariffs would translate into an average 11 per cent rise in heating rates nationwide.
"Such a request is rather far-fetched and even cynical," Anton Petrov, chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry, told Dnevnik.
Bulgargaz’ price hike proposal has been taking shape since mid-February, when the company estimated it would need to charge 16.62 per cent higher rates, based on the higher prices of alternative gas fuels on the international markets, the exchange rate with the US dollar and proceeds from due revenue for the third quarter.
The current tariff, 413.24 leva for 1000 cubic metres, would go up to 522.40 leva if the watchdog granted the requested increase.
Konstantin Stamenov, chairperson of the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers, told Dnevnik there is no sense in Bulgaria moving against the global trend, which is for gas prices to go down because of oversupply. He said that by robbing Bulgaria's industrial sector of its competitive edge, this policy would doom the sector.
Source: Dnevnik
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