Stankov promises compensation for electricity costs in the mining industry

Compensation for the high price of electricity for the mining industry will continue, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov pledged during a meeting on the occasion of the national celebration of Miners' Day.

Stankov recalled that the directorate responsible within the Ministry of Energy for granting concessions, control, and maintenance of the database on underground resources was the first one he was responsible for as deputy minister. According to him, even back then, together with the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology (BMG), a strategy for the mining sector was developed with a horizon until 2050, which is working but needs to be developed further.

We are currently in the era of digitalization and artificial intelligence, but people continue to be the industry's greatest asset, he said, as quoted by BTA.

According to him, there is sustainable development in the sector, which is not only related to increasing yields and labor productivity through the introduction of new technologies, but also to greater safety for people and higher budget revenues linked to new investments in the extraction of rare metals and raw materials.

The 120,000 people who are directly and indirectly employed in the industry deserve to celebrate because they can ensure energy security and the transformation of the energy sector, and without the extraction of copper, zinc, gold, silver, and platinum, this would not be possible, he said.

Translated with DeepL.