News

1 December 2022

“There is concern about what is going to happen to the unspecified number of people who need to receive energy support. According to different sources, they range from 23.7% to 40% of the Bulgarian citizens which means that this a much wider circle of people than the one currently receiving energy support.” Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva stated at the forum “Bring the Bills Down: Energy Poverty and Prices” organised by Member of the European Parliament Sergey Stanishev.

The event was part of the campaign of the Group of Socialists and Democrats at the European Parliament “Bring the Bills Down” which includes 15 specific measures and 100 billion euro as a Winter Solidarity Package for citizens and businesses of Member States.

The Ombudsman noted that 1 December was the effective date of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices which would be in effect until the end of 2023. 

“This means that those most in need will not be able to benefit and will remain on the sidelines of the temporary financial support it offers,” Prof. Kovacheva noted and pointed out the reasons for this – no legal definitions were set out in Bulgaria for the concept of “energy poverty”, for objective criteria to define the categories of vulnerable persons or for protection mechanisms.

She emphasised that the Regulation only provided the framework while it was up to the Member States to fill it with content by laying down how it would be applied but, at the time, Bulgaria was not ready with that. She noted that the process was slow and that the institutions were just “passing the ball” to one another while beginning to blame one another for the delay.

“It is very unfortunate that energy poverty is not related only to the high prices of electricity but also to the growing prices of natural gas, liquefied natural gas, timber for heating, pellets for heating. I know this from the complaints flooding the Ombudsman institutions every day,” Prof. Kovacheva added.

She pointed out an interesting trend: this was the first year in which the complaints related to issues of energy poverty exceeded those against the poor quality of water and sewerage services five times.

“The problem is that people do not simply feel the energy poverty; the problem is that they are worried, they are afraid because of the lack of clear messages. The clarity in pricing is also related to the prospects for the future which are essential to people,” Diana Kovacheva emphasised.

She raised an important question: when would our country be ready to apply both the European law and the national legislation meant to help those who were truly energy poor.

“I am also worried just as the people writing to me and, quite often, I do not know what to say in response because they are asking about who is going to help them. I direct them to the institutions but, in fact, the truth is that the theoretical background of the institutions is unable to help the people during the winter season when they are already paying the high bills,” the Ombudsman said.

The forum structured in two panels was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Management Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Labour and Social Policy Minister Nadya Klisurska, Energy Committee Chair Delyan Dobrev. The second panel featured Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev, Energy and Water Regulatory Commission Chair Ivan Ivanov, MEP Tsvetelina Penkova, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria President Plamen Dimitrov, EnEffect Energy Efficiency Centre Executive Director Dragomir Tsanev, Transparency International Bulgaria Executive Director Kalin Slavov. 

Dr. Teodora Peneva with the Institute of Economic Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences presented a draft definition on the topic as well as the work of the Energy Effectiveness and Energy Poverty Committee at the Council of Ministers. The Trend Research Centre presented a sociological survey conducted especially in relation to the forum.