Bulgargaz will keep supplying natural gas to Toplofikatsia Sofia this heating season, even though the capital's district heating company has not paid for gas since the start of the year, energy minister Iva Petrova said in a TV interview. She said the company's debt to the public supplier could pass €1bn by the end of the season.
About ten days ago, Petrova told parliament's energy committee that Toplofikatsia Sofia was not ready for winter. She said 286 of its substations were shut down because of breakdowns.
On 4 November, Petrova warned the parliamentary energy committee that many of the shut-down stations had been out of service for over two months, with more than 400 other emergencies being monitored.
The only money Bulgargaz has received from the Sofia company this year is what the three-party agreement collects through the Security of the Electricity System Fund. Petrova expects the company's gas bill to grow by about €500m more over the coming season.
The energy ministry carried out checks in the summer and reported the problems it found as early as July. Petrova said they showed worrying gaps in how the company is run and in how it prepared for the heating season. In some places, she said, there was no preparation at all. The company has five emergency crews in total.
Petrova said Toplofikatsia Sofia has a deep structural problem and the current model cannot last long. The company is owned by Sofia Municipality, and she said a lasting fix needs the municipality and the city council to take an active role. The company's own management is responsible for the day-to-day work on the season, repair and investment programmes, and breakdowns, she said. She called on Toplofikatsia Sofia to organise itself so that repairs finish within a reasonable time and within the deadlines set by regulations.
Petrova said it is worrying that people in parts of Sofia do not have decent heating. She said these districts have nothing to do with the company's debts to state firms.
The government announced a €2bn package for business and households a few days ago because of high electricity prices. A system that assesses which people are energy poor and vulnerable is also already running, and block tariffs are planned.
Petrova said the money in the fund is enough for all programmes. Compensation is worked out from forecasts of the fund's income and spending, and the aim is always a balanced budget. She explained the payments by the current crisis and what she called an unprecedented situation in the energy sector, with prices swinging sharply. She said the payments protect people and business while the state works on the sector's structural problems. Electricity prices will stay the same until June 2027, and the money in the fund guarantees this, she said.