Skopje, 31 December 2021 (MIA) – The price of heating in Skopje is set to increase by 14.05% as of January 1. The new price will apply for heating provided by provided by suppliers Balkan Energy Group (BEG), ESM Energy and Skopje North, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said on Friday. The new ERC decision restores the heating price to the 2018 level. According to ERC president Marko Bislimovski, the main criteria when it comes to heating rates is the price of natural gas, which in 2020 stood at USD 240/Nm3, while in 2021 at USD 1,480/Nm3. “If we take this into consideration, we would have had to increase the rate by 190%, but that’s not an option. Therefore, we decided to ask the government, the City of Skopje and Skopje municipalities for assistance,” Bislimovski said at a press conference on Friday, noting that all of Europe faces similar issues due to the price of natural gas. He stressed that the government is already working on finding ways to cover heating expenses and urged the City of Skopje and Skopje municipalities to do the same. Moreover, Bislimovski said that expenses for procuring natural gas for January usually stand at EUR 2 million, but now the price has reached EUR 13.8 million, of which the ERC has recognized as expense EUR 4 million, while the difference will be covered by the government and Skopje municipalities. He underlined that ESM Energy and Skopje North have procured the necessary amount of gas, while BEG has enough for the first two weeks of the month. Leaving Skopje residents without heating, Bislimovski said, is not an option. The ERC head also stressed that BEG, as the largest supplier, is obliged to have crude oil reserves for two weeks. However, using crude oil from hearing is not environmentally-friendly. If heating plants start using crude oil, he noted, they’ll have to continue doing so until the end of the heating season. “If there’s no natural gas, or its price is very high, using crude oil is an option for providing heating in Skopje, but this is the last resort, as it can increase pollution levels, which are already high in the winter,” Bislimovski said. BEG supplies heating for 60,000 users, Skopje North for 500 and ESM Energy for 4,000.