Homes that heat with gas face the hardest winter, and businesses will suffer more than households, says Yavor Kuyumdzhiev, a former deputy energy minister. He expects prices of goods and services to rise.
The coming rise in the price of natural gas will not hit people as hard, he says. Household electricity will most likely stay at its current price until 30 June next year. The law allows prices to change overnight, but Kuyumdzhiev doubts anyone will dare to do it.
He also does not believe heating bills will go up in the middle of a harsh winter. District heating companies are more likely to cover the costs, he says.
The outlook for business and the economy is unpleasant, Kuyumdzhiev said in a TV interview. Electricity for companies costs more than at any time in at least four years. Gas is at its mid-2022 level, when a crisis began after the war in Ukraine started. Oil and fuel prices on world markets keep hitting record highs.
That makes production more expensive, and prices of services, food and transport rise with it, he explained.
The only solution, he said, is for the two wars to end.