BUSINESS WILL BE SUPPORTED IN APRIL, PRIME MINISTER PETKOV ANNOUNCES

The business will be supported in April. The levels at which it will be supported for electricity prices will be discussed by the end of this week, said after a meeting with employers' organizations in the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. He added that a new measure would be proposed early next week.

Petkov described today's meeting with all employers' organizations, which represent a large part of businesses in Bulgaria, as very constructive. "We are all facing an unprecedented crisis from the war in Ukraine, gas prices, electricity. We all realize that many of the factors are external and Bulgaria is currently in the midst of an almost perfect storm," he said. He pointed out that the government and employers' organizations are united. “All together, we are all in the same boat and we will be able to come out based on the knowledge and dialogue we have”, said Petkov.

Business aid due to high electricity prices will continue after March for April, confirmed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Industry Kornelia Ninova after a meeting with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov with representatives of employers' organizations due to the situation on the electricity market in Bulgaria in connection to the war in Ukraine.

By the end of April, a new mechanism will be made to support business, Ninova said, adding that an agreement had been reached today to increase aid for increased energy prices. How much and in what matter the experts are to decide, Ninova added.

The Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Dobri Mitrev expressed satisfaction with today's meeting because of the opportunity to have a dialogue in the coming days in search of the most favorable option in which all non-household electricity consumers will be compensated next month for high electricity prices already paid by businesses. “More importantly, today we talked about having security in the long run, sustainable solutions to determine the price of electricity for the internal market, to have a functioning and growing economy and a prosperous society and nation”, Mitrev added. He expressed hope that in the coming days and hours a maximum fair mechanism will be developed to compensate and find lasting and sustainable solutions in the future.