CEZ Group Director Daniel Benes estimates that the price of electricity in the Czech Republic will increase by about a third in 2022, while the price of gas will be two thirds more expensive, informs Radio Prague and Reuters.

In an interview with the Czech publication Hospodářské Noviny on Monday, the CEO of CEZ, which is 70% controlled by the Czech state, pointed out that wholesale energy prices had reached a record high this year.

CEZ is expected to announce price increases in early November, which will take effect early next year, according to Agerpres.

Separately, the Czech Energy Regulatory Authority (ERU) has announced that it will seek guarantees from suppliers that they can meet customer needs, accelerating supervision after one of the country’s largest electricity and gas groups, Bohemia Energy, shut down operations in due to rising prices in Europe.

ERU has asked the 434 authorized energy suppliers in the Czech Republic to provide by the end of next week documents on deliveries to individual and legal customers.

ERU President Stanislav Travnicek said he wanted assurances that suppliers had not engaged in what he called “gambling in the markets”.

Major suppliers, such as CEZ, had to intervene after the closure of Bohemia Energy.

As in other European countries, the Prague government seeks to alleviate the burden of rising energy prices on households, for example by granting “energy checks” to help families struggling to cover bill costs.