The government is preparing a compensation package for businesses and for households that heat with natural gas because of higher energy prices, said Ivan Angelov of Progressive Bulgaria, deputy speaker of parliament. The measures have not been announced yet.

Angelov believes prices for electricity and district heating will not rise for households in the coming heating season.

The ruling parties are discussing how to ease the rise in energy prices. One option is to pay for it from the Electricity System Security Fund. Separate measures are being prepared for households with gas heating.

Angelov called the package very serious and said the exact measures will be clear soon, but he gave no date. He also did not say how much money will be set aside or what compensation individual firms will get. The government will announce the final decisions and deadlines, the MP said.

Natural gas has become more expensive on international markets. Even after the rise, gas in Bulgaria costs about 40% less than the average European price, Angelov said. But he said this does not remove the need for the state to help affected people and firms.

The MP also answered the opposition, which claims that part of pension contributions is to be moved from private funds to the National Social Security Institute. Angelov allowed that there had been various talks about the pension system and possible reforms. But he said the budget papers presented contain no such measure.

He called it misleading to present working papers with no official status as a decision the government has already taken. He declined to speculate whether the change would have gone into the budget if the opposition had not made the information public. Experts at the Finance Ministry are in charge of the budget framework.

The bill on the Bulgarian language, put forward by Vazrazhdane, passed its first reading with the backing of all parliamentary groups. No MP voted against or abstained. Proposals for language laws have come up many times over the past 15 years or so.

Support at first reading does not mean all the texts will pass unchanged, Angelov said. MPs accept the spirit and meaning of the bill.

The disputed texts, including the rules for transliteration of Bulgarian names, will be discussed before the second reading. Representatives of various organisations will be heard, along with the arguments of supporters and opponents of the law.