Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva wants to know from the Commission for the Protection of Competition /CPC/ whether there is a cartel in the sale of wood, pellets and charcoal. She has sent a recommendation to Chairman of the Central Committee Yulia Nenkova, in which she insists that an investigation be carried out on the matter.
She wants the CPC to carry out a sectoral analysis to examine the competitive environment in the markets of production and sale of solid fuels, as well as the reasons that led to the increase in retail prices.
The reason for the recommendation is the numerous complaints and reports received by the Ombudsman’s institution from citizens due to limited supply on the market and the widespread increase in the final prices of solid fuels for individuals in our country.
„People who heat with solid fuel are left uncompensated by the state. They repeatedly complained to me because no one helped them during the past heating season,“, Prof. Kovacheva explained.
She emphasized that the limited supply of solid fuels and the extreme increase in their prices by nearly 70% compared to last year represented a problem of great public importance given the data that about 40% of Bulgarian households relied on solid fuels for heating their homes in the autumn- the winter season.
Diana Kovacheva also stressed that citizens informed her about an increase in the prices of pellets for heating – from BGN 350-410/ton (depending on the specific type of pellets) in the summer of 2021, to BGN 650-900/ton in the autumn-winter season 2021-2022 and up to BGN 850-1000/ton in September 2022.
The ombudsman pointed out that these prices were unbearable for people who expect active actions from the competent state institutions against speculative price increases in the sector.
„There is a widespread opinion that the limited supply and price increases cannot be explained by objective reasons, since firewood and wood for the production of wood pellets are from local Bulgarian extraction. Moreover, according to public data, the state forestry and hunting farms have increased their plans to extract firewood for direct sale to the population in 2022 by about 10% compared to the reported 926 thousand bcm for 2021,“, the public defender added in her recommendation.
Kovacheva also pointed out that when there are no objective factors for the permanent, significant and widespread increase in the price of solid fuels, it should be assumed that it is due to anti-competitive behavior of the participants in the respective markets.
According to her, this contradicts the legal requirement of fair trade practice and affects the economic behavior of consumers.
„A special case in the commodity group under consideration is coal and coal briquettes for household needs. On the retail market, these fuels are mainly imported, and the price increases are explained by the trade situation in South-Eastern Europe,“, the Ombudsman also pointed out.
