The price of gas falls by 9.83%; central heating bills to fall between 3.5% and 7%

We will reduce the price of gas more than Bulgargaz' proposal, Chairman of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) Angel Semerdzhiev said on Thursday. The proposal of SEWRC's working group was that the price of gas for the first quarter of 2013 should be BGN 656.47/1,000 cubic metres, or a 9.83% decrease, compared to the last quarter of this year. Bulgargaz requested a 9.3% price reduction. A more user-friendly exchange rate will be used and we will reduce the extra given to them in order to cover their costs, Semerdzhiev added. The aim is to transfer all the benefits of the price reduction of natural gas to end users, Semerdzhiev said.

The rate of decrease in heating companies is different. The greatest reduction will be in Sofia, while for the other companies it will be between 3.5% and 7%, Semerdzhiev said. At the end of the day, we will have specific data for each heating company, he added. Semerdzhiev said that all heating companies, despite the difficult economic conditions, are ready for the autumn-winter season, so that they will face a minimum number of accidents.

Head of Bulgargaz Dimitar Gogov warned that there is a risk that Toplofikatsia Pleven will remain without gas supplies due to its liabilities to the public provider. According to Dimitar Gogov, the company bought Toplofikatsia Rousse for the amount of BGN 27.7 mln, while at the same time it had liabilities to the public provider amounting to BGN 20 mln. According to the Head of the company in Pleven, however, the liabilities to Bulgargaz amounted to about BGN 4 mln at the end of November and Toplofikatsia Rousse was bought with money from a loan. Because of the decrease in the price of gas, Bulgargaz' revenues will amount to about BGN 4 mln less, since the energy regulator ruled on a greater reduction in the price, by half a percentage point, compared to the one requested by the public provider.

"In this situation, the reduction of current natural gas prices, compared to the one included in the pricing of heating companies, ranges from 9.87% to 10.59% for companies connected to the network of Bulgargaz JSC," read the Commission's report. This is a reason to decrease the cost of heating in the whole country. "Heating companies are not in good condition. It will be to everybody's benefit, if they provide heat at acceptable prices and terms. There is a big difference, compared to the situation two years ago, since a lot of companies in the country now have modern facilities. Heating services have managed to survive even on this competitive market and they are now broadening their range of users," said Semerdzhiev.

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