Tear to energy poor and fatty subsidies for pollutants

With sad faces and serious glances, several ministers have officially announced today that Bulgaria is losing BGN 1.2 billion for grants under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan (PV). Instead of realizing the reforms that would have a positive impact on the lives of citizens, decisions have chosen to protect polluting industries and oligarchic interests. With the compromise of the second payment on the PV, the risks of losing more funds in the next stages increases.

The transformation of energy is a fact, and instead of taking care of its planning, politicians at the head of the state again choose to deny reality. This happened many times with the road card for climate neutrality – the plan for the gradual removal of coal capacities, which is the only one for security for the trajectory of the development of Bulgarian energy. While politicians of the whole spectrum claim that this plan is unfulfilled, in reality Bulgaria even overflows it.

Today, the Minister of Energy has identified the reforms provided for in the PVS as a risk to energy security and opposed to our national interest. It's dust in the eyes. The lack of reforms and the refusal of the means of the recovery plan only extends the agony of the coal industry and the uncertainty for people – both for the employees in the sector and for all citizens who continue to have no easy access to renewable energy for their own needs.

The State TPP « Maritza-East 2 » relies on state subsidies and political decisions to include it in the regulated market, at which households are forced to pay its expensive electricity. The lack of reforms and alternatives extends the life of old and polluting installations associated with businessman Hristo Kovachki – the chronic violators « Brickel » TPP, TPP « Bobov Dol », TPO « Republic » in Pernik, TPP « Maritza 3 » in Dimitrovgrad I have the green light.

The reforms are not threatening national security, but the energy status quo, whose huge health price politicians are comfortable bypassing. A gradual and smooth transition beyond coal, as laid in the air -conditioning road card, will save 3600 lives and save 10 billion euros for health – this is the cost of air pollution from the burning of low quality coal in Bulgarian power plants.

It is cynical people like Temenuzhka Petkova, Zhecho Stankov and Tomislav Donchev to justify themselves by the lack of time for key reforms. For more than a decade, a series of GERB governments, including Petkova and Stankov, at the forefront of the Ministry of Energy, have refused to have a conversation about the future of the energy system and promised an eternal past.

Although delayed, the first stage of the procedure for financing new photovoltaic systems for the production of electricity for its own needs and solar hot water systems has been announced and made some progress. In July 2024, the Ministry of Energy informed about 1544 approved household project in single -family and multi -family buildings, but for more than half a year it has not been worked on them. On our request under the Law on Access to Public Information, related to the deadlines, the preferred power of the systems, the expected benefits of them, we received data only on the value of the projects approved for financing.

These 1544 home renewable energy systems are worth nearly BGN 34 million. This is a very modest amount against the background of the total planned resource of BGN 240 million (combined by the recovery plan, national and private co -financing). When the first stage of them was announced, the sum of BGN 80 million was provided, stating that later with the remaining 160 million levs would also be covered by energy poor households, which will receive completely free of their own electricity production systems.

It seems that the energy poor in our country will continue to be treated as primitive people who can only rely on fire and coal fire to provide comfort in their home. For the last heating season alone, the state has willingly distributed more than 187 million levs to the most needy in Bulgaria, with over 83% of them spent them on solid fuels. This conversion of piles of money into suffocating smoke will continue because the funds from the recovery plan will not reach people.