Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarian monasteries are in distress due to high electricity prices

Rila Monastery
Photo: archive

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.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Temperatures decrease slightly, rain expected in the western regions

On Wednesday , the lowest temperatures will be between 7 and 12°C. In Sofia it will be around 8°C. Before noon it will be sunny. In the afternoon, rainy clouds will develop over the western massifs and there will be short-term rain..

published on 4/22/25 6:55 PM

Commission to assess revisions to Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan 

The European Commission has announced that it has received a request from Bulgaria to revise its national recovery and resilience plan. The Commission will examine the request, submitted by the country on 16 April, and forward it to the EU Council for..

published on 4/22/25 6:15 PM
Borislav Gutsanov

Public sector salaries cannot be increased by more than 5%, says Social Affairs Minister

The state cannot afford to increase public sector salaries by 10% this year, as demanded by trade unions. This was stated by Social Affairs Minister Borislav Gutsanov. The minister pointed out that taxes had not been changed, while pensions had been..

published on 4/22/25 6:00 PM