Jan Tvrdoň summarizes and comments on the political events of this week.
A price ticking time bomb?
This week, the Energy Regulatory Office came up with a proposal that next year the regulated component of electricity will increase by 71 percent. If such an increase really happened, households and industry would see a very significant increase in the price of electricity after the New Year.
In addition to economic impacts, such a move would also have serious political consequences. Energy prices are an extremely sensitive issue for every government, after all, the current part of the prices was subsidized this year so that households would not suffer the full consequences of the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
The prime minister, together with the ministers of finance and industry and trade, reacted very quickly to the ERO’s proposal. They tried to assure the public that there is no danger of such a thing and that most people will pay more or less the same next year, the increase in prices may be in the order of one percent at most.
“I want to emphasize that energy prices will not increase by tens of percent next year. No way. Electricity prices will be the same as this year, or one percent higher,” the prime minister said at an impromptu press conference.
But the opposition did not wait and started shooting at the government because of possible price increases. For example, the shadow Prime Minister Karel Havlíček (ANO) practically laughed at Fial, saying that he can’t count. And it must be added that the offensive of the opposition did not stop even after that.
The prime minister should be sure that there will be no significant increase. There is nothing less at stake
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