Bulgaria's energy regulator will decide today whether to let gas prices rise 5.96% in October. Public supplier Bulgargaz has asked for the increase, and the regulator's meeting, open to the public, starts at 10:00 at its headquarters.

Bulgargaz wants to charge 44.08 euros per megawatt-hour in October, before access and transmission fees, excise duty and VAT. That's the rate at which it sells gas to end suppliers and to firms licensed to produce and carry heat. The regulator set September's price, under the same terms, at 41.60 euros per megawatt-hour on 31 August.

District heating firms, gas distributors and industrial users across Bulgaria all set their prices based on this rate.

Updated (30.09, 11:36): Bulgargaz will offer a final price of 44.40 euros per megawatt-hour for October, says Lyudmila Vitanova, who heads the company's prices, market analysis and pricing department. The price is going up because natural gas costs more at the TTF hub in the Netherlands. Plamen Mladenovski, chairman of energy regulator KEVR, warned the watchdog will not approve a price higher than the one first proposed.