Dairy processors have asked the state to compensate non-household electricity users each month for power costs above €100 per megawatt hour in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The National Association of Dairy Processors (NAM) makes the call in an open letter. Without help, the industry says, firms have two options. They can pass the costs on in the price of milk, white cheese, yellow cheese and butter, or they can close capacity, and imports may rise.
The letter is addressed to the media and the institutions and signed by Vladislav Mihaylov, chair of NAM's management board. Copies went to the Council of Ministers, the energy ministry, the agriculture and food ministry and the parliamentary energy committee.
NAM wants the Electricity System Security Fund to cover the whole gap between the average monthly price on the BNEB power exchange's day-ahead segment and the €100 threshold. The gap would be calculated and paid every month. The association says the aid should go to all non-household users that meet the conditions, including food makers and processors of farm produce. It opposes limiting aid to certain industries that use a lot of power.
NAM wants the scheme guaranteed for all three years, with clearly named sources of money. It says the money should come from windfall revenue in the energy sector and from the fund's income. The industry argues that money raised when market prices are high should first go to limit the damage to production.
Plamen Dimitrov, president of the KNSB trade union confederation, explained that firms now get their final compensation only after the 10-month scheme ends. Interim support is paid only if the average exchange price is above €180 per megawatt hour. Dimitrov warned that at prices around €180, many firms will not survive without timely financial help. The KNSB asked yesterday for a change in how business is compensated.
NAM also criticises the current practice of averaging exchange prices over six months. It says this can wipe out or sharply cut compensation, while power bills are paid every month. Several months in a row of expensive electricity use up firms' working capital, the money they use to pay everyday costs, if help does not arrive on time.
Dairy processing cannot stop and wait for cheaper power, the letter says. Receiving and heat-treating raw milk, pasteurisation, maturing and the refrigeration cycle cannot be halted or moved to follow the hourly price of electricity. NAM says price swings on the market therefore threaten production.
The industry sees another risk in the coming talks on power supply contracts for the next periods. NAM cites preliminary market data that, without a clear scheme, contract prices could rise by 10–15%. It says this would add to the higher cost of raw materials, packaging, transport and labour, and would make Bulgarian firms less competitive.
Also yesterday, GERB-SDS tabled a draft decision for monthly compensation of non-household users. MP Zhecho Stankov announced this at a briefing in parliament.
The four nationally representative employers' organisations and the two big trade unions have asked for an urgent meeting with prime minister Rumen Radev, finance minister Galab Donev and energy minister Iva Petrova. They want it because of the jump in the price of electricity. By their figures, the price rose by about 126% between June and October and is about 82% higher than in October 2025.