Bulgaria must agree a single national position and push for a major overhaul of the EU carbon market, KNSB unions at the Maritsa East complex have said, BTA reports. They made the appeal to President Iliana Iotova and Prime Minister Rumen Radev.

The unions say a tonne of CO2 now costs €88.36, about 17.2% more than at the start of the year. KNSB says high prices for emission permits make it hard for coal plants to operate.

The unions want a change in how the price of permits is set. They call for special rules and exemptions for coal plants, which they say are needed for energy security. They also want EU states to keep the right to use their own energy resources, in line with their circumstances. Bulgaria should also agree its stance with other EU countries that share its interest, they say.

The unions expect the president to back a national consensus on the issue. They say the prime minister should order the position to be drawn up at once, together with state bodies, energy companies, unions, employers and experts. The energy ministry should prepare a calculation with hard figures on the costs, risks and effects of different scenarios.

The unions also insist that the pace of cuts in coal power should depend on whether there is capacity to take over supply and keep electricity reliable.

KNSB says the complex gives work and a living to people in the region. It also has generating capacity that the country relies on during breakdowns, when renewable output is low and when energy markets are in crisis. Local lignite also cuts reliance on imported fuel.

The unions also cite Eurostat. Real gross domestic product in the South-East region fell by 20.5% between 2019 and 2024, while the EU economy grew by 5.6% over the same period. The unions say this shows the economic cost of the transition in regions that depend on coal.

In early September, at a news conference at the BTA National Press Club in Stara Zagora, miners from Mini Maritsa Iztok spoke out against the energy ministry's proposed restructuring of the energy sector. Biser Binev, head of the Podkrepa company union organisation, and Georgi Gospodinov, head of the KNSB company union organisation, set out their position.