Sofia, December 30 (BTA) - The government's top priority is to tackle the energy crisis, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said here on Thursday on his way into the final meeting of the Council of Ministers for 2021 where a decision was made to provide an additional 860 million leva for dealing with the crisis.

In the Prime Minister's words, the businesses needs the money to handle the shock from the rising energy prices. "We are aware that many businesses find it difficult to cover their energy needs," Petkov said.

In the words of Energy Minister Alxander Nikolov, the funding from the State for the ongoing heating season will reach 2 billion leva. He told a news briefing after the government meeting that the total amount includes the newly approved 860 million leva and 1.5 billion leva for direct payments to cover the deficit of energy distribution companies built up before the end of December and this lower the pressure for increasing the price of power transmission services.

The Prime Minister said that the government also decided to provide an additional 120 million leva for extending the 60/40 job retention scheme in order to keep up the employment rates. The money is expected to support some 80,000 workers in the coming months.

An extra 750 million leva will go for pensioners to make sure their pensions donТt drop and they continue to receive a COVID supplement of 60 leva, Petkov said.

He used the opportunity to reiterate his call to people to get vaccinated, especially older people. "It is the only way to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed and avoid the risk of having to shut down the economy and schools. We donТt want this to happen," the government leader said.

"We cannot ignore the fact that Omicron is at our doorsteps and the next COVID-19 wave will follow in two or three weeks. We should prepare an optimal vaccination programme and an operational plan to lower the risk for the health system", Petkov said.

Social measures for pensioners are to be discussed at the meeting as well, as pensioners are among the most vulnerable social groups during the pandemic, Prime Minister Petkov added.