250 million leva per year allocated by Parliament for the reclamation of the Maritsa Basin must be used transparently. This was commented on by Meglena Antonova, program manager and office head of Greenpeace Bulgaria, in an interview for DEBATI.BG.
Earlier today, Parliament swiftly obligated the government to provide 250 million leva for reclamation, with the funds being disbursed to companies in the Maritsa Basin until 2028.
„I’m not sure if such a request for reclamation funds was even in the initial demands. I think the demands were more related to preserving jobs. The question here is – are these funds being paid for reclamation or to maintain the operational capacity,“ Antonova commented.
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„That’s why it’s good for such large sums of money to be accompanied by some conditions. While this money is given to the mines, the respective goals related to reclamation must also be met,“ Antonova remarked.
At the same time, Parliament postponed the date when household electricity consumers will be able to buy electricity from the free market through electricity distribution companies.
„What was supposed to happen from 1 July this year would not have affected end consumers in any way. The price of electricity would still have been subsidized and fixed, with a ceiling, while changes would have occurred at the electricity distribution companies, which would have purchased electricity from the market, with the difference being covered by the Security of the Electricity System Fund.
This means that the state would still have subsidized Maritsa East-2 because the difference between market price and the price of the electricity it produces would have been covered by the budget.
Now we continue with the same scheme, but there is no chance for electricity distribution companies to buy cheaper energy, so less money from our taxes goes to support Maritsa East-2,“ Antonova explained.
She predicted that with this decision, the funds under the National Investment Programme remain in question, as this reform was among the conditions for receiving them.
„From the beginning, the way this reform was presented did not satisfy the overall opinion of the EC, but now its complete postponement also does not sound like a good sign,“ she added.
Read the full interview with Meglena Antonova on Saturday.
