Moving into a rental - do utility bills go into my name in Bulgaria?
Asked by Anika · August 14, 2026
German, just signed a one-year lease in Burgas. In Germany you register electricity and gas in your own name when you move in, so I asked my landlord how to transfer the accounts and he looked at me like I was crazy. He says everything stays in his name and I just pay the bills. Is that normal here or is he hiding something? How do I make sure I am not paying his old debts, and how do I even pay the bills?
1 Answer
Melssa TeamMelssa teamAug 14, 2026
Your landlord is not hiding anything - what he described is completely normal practice in Bulgaria. Utility accounts almost always stay in the name of the owner, and the tenant simply pays the monthly bills. Formally transferring accounts requires the owner, the title deed and a trip to the provider, so almost nobody bothers for rentals. The system works fine as long as you protect yourself at handover. Your protection checklist: First, meter readings. At move-in, photograph the electricity and water meters and write the readings into a signed handover protocol with the date. This is your line between his consumption and yours. Second, old debts. Unpaid utility bills follow the property account, and the provider will cut service regardless of who caused the debt - so before or at signing, ask to see the most recent paid bills for electricity and water, or check the balance together: for Burgas the electricity provider is EVN (southeast Bulgaria - Sofia and the west use Electrohold, the northeast uses Energo-Pro), and anyone can check an account balance online or at a counter with the customer number. Get the customer numbers for electricity and water written into your contract or the protocol. Third, paying. Easiest is online - the ePay.bg portal, provider websites and apps - or in cash at any EasyPay counter, which are everywhere; you just give the customer number. Set a monthly reminder, because paper bills are not always delivered reliably. Also ask about the building maintenance fee (vhodna taksa) - a few euro a month collected by the building manager, usually paid by the tenant. At around 0.12-0.13 euro per kWh for electricity, normal bills for a small flat are pleasantly boring. Full walkthrough in our guide at /guides/utility-bills-setup-bulgaria.