Among other measures, the Government had already issued the Decree on setting gas prices from the system to cap the maximum permitted resale gas prices for certain protected customers as of 1 September 2022 for one year.

These particularly include households, common household customers and basic social services such as healthcare providers with accommodation facilities (hospitals), secondary school and university dormitories, social care service providers in institutional care (public retirement homes) and prisons. Customers with the maximum permitted price also include small business customers with an annual consumption of under 100,000 kWh.

This also applies to households in the district heating system following the amendment to the Decree. Due to great increases in the price of natural gas in certain district heating systems (e.g. Jesenice and Trbovlje) in the 2021–2022 heating season and the forecasts for the 2022–2023 heating season, household consumers supplied with heat from district heating systems, in which heat is generated from natural gas, must also be added among the natural gas consumers for whom the price is regulated.

The Decree re-defines the maximum retail gas price for kindergartens, primary schools and community healthcare centres, the maximum permitted retail gas price for alternative and basic natural gas supply for households, common household customers, basic social services, kindergartens, primary schools, community healthcare centres and small business customers. The instrument of alternative and basic supply and the expansion of the definition of protected consumers were introduced by the recently adopted Act Amending the Gas Supply Act. The Decree adopted today also regulates prices for these types of consumers.

The amended Decree enters into force on 1 November 2022.