Bulgaria will have to weather single- to double-digit energy price hikes next year because the country is yet to align rates with those in the remainder of EU member states, said Konstantin Shoushoulov, chair of the State Energy and Water Regulation Commission.

The official took Wednesday the parliamentary floor to explain the reasons behind energy price hikes this year and give his forecast for the year to come.

Electricity tariffs, in particular, are set to go up by 7 per cent in 2008, the mark-up being a must in view of rising prices of input materials, fuels and coal alike. Shoushoulov cited the decommissioning of Units 3 and 4 of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant and the resulting decrease in cheaper electricity output as another reason.

Natural gas, in turn, will undergo a 10 per cent price increase in the year to come. It will go on the footsteps of a 9.2 per cent hike as of October 1 2007, Shoushoulov said. This will predicate the increase of heating prices as well and it will occur next year, the official added.