July 04, (BTA/GNA) – Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva has sent a recommendation to outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov urging the government to develop a scheme for compensation of higher energy costs of Bulgarian households in the next 12 months, her press office said.
The office of the Ombudsman has been receiving many complaints and signals in which citizens express concern that they won’t be able to pay for their basic energy needs because of the steep increase in the prices of firewood, pellets and liquid fuels.
“I firmly believe that all Bulgarian citizens should receive support from the state in order to meet their basic needs for energy and fuels, bearing in mind that the increase of incomes in Bulgaria is lagging against the escalation of many crises,” writes Kovacheva.
Kovacheva is categorical that the new increase in the price of central heating and the uncertainty about the price of natural gas are taking place against the background of an escalating inflation which in May reached 15.6 per cent, according to National Statistical Institute data.
According to Eurostat data about the cost of living in the EU in the last quarter of 2021, 37% of Bulgarians struggle to make ends meet.
GNA
Credit: BTA