High electricity prices spurred rolling heating outages at the Rila Monastery. The monastery uses industrial electricity. Its electricity bill for December last year amounted to EUR 14,000, which was three times more as compared to the same period of 2020. 

The abbot of the Rila Monastery, Bishop Eulogius, expressed concern that the January bill will be even higher. The monastery has heating only 8 hours a day and the local kitchen uses mainly firewood bought in the summer of 2021. The Rila Monastery has not yet received state support. 

The situation in other Bulgarian monasteries is similar. The Kabile Monastery “The Nativity of Holy Virgin Mary” near the city of Yambol (Southeastern Bulgaria) has the same problem. Nuns are sitting in the cold to save electricity, because their last electricity bill amounts to EUR 3,000.