Fuel prices in Bulgaria have fallen by about 20% in the last 5 months. This was announced by the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stojanov in the studio of the Nova TV morning block. He presented data comparing fuel prices in several European countries for the period from August 2022 to date. It shows that at the moment the caretaker cabinet took over the country (2 August), the prices of diesel and A95 petrol in Bulgaria were similar to those in Germany and higher than those in Hungary. Today, fuel prices in the country are among the lowest in Europe.
The data strongly suggests that the results are due to national measures rather than international factors. ‘The decline in fuel prices in our country is significantly higher than in other countries in Europe, and in some countries there is even a retention of prices,’ said the Minister of Economy and showed a graph comparing the rate of reduction in 7 countries in Europe. ‘We have included both EU and non-EU countries in the comparison to avoid political commentary. The data is categorical and is the result of everything that has been done in the energy and economic spheres in recent months,’ Nikola Stojanov emphasized.
On 2 August 2022, the average price of a litre of diesel was BGN 3.50, today it is BGN 2.93. The reduction in petrol is even more serious — from BGN 3.34 on the day the caretaker cabinet took over to BGN 2.59 today. ‘These figures show a drop of 15% in the price of diesel and over 20% for gasoline,’ Nikola Stojanov explained.
The Minister of Economy recalled that against this background, measures have been taken so that Lukoil starts paying taxes in the country, and from the additional funds received in the budget, measures to support the people will be launched. ‘Our goal was to keep the discount of 25 cents per litre of fuel until we are ready with the new measures and we have financially secured this because we understand that any help is valuable for people in such a complicated economic situation,’ Minister Stojanov explained further.