The government in Prague has reached an agreement on capping gas and electricity prices in 2023, in order to mitigate the impact of their increase on households, announced Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country secures the presidency of the European Union this semester, reports Reuters.

The national plan of the Prague authorities will work alongside the pan-European solution prepared by the European Commission and the member states.

“We guarantee the price level, everyone will know what they will pay and it will be impossible for people to pay much higher bills compared to this year,” said Fiala at a press conference. He explained that in the case of households, prices will be capped at six Czech crowns ($0.2476) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity and approximately half of this level for gas. Transport and distribution costs are not included, according to Agerpres.

Also, the Czech Prime Minister announced, a solution for managing high prices for the industry is to be presented on Wednesday. Adjusted for taxes, the electricity price cap in the Czech Republic corresponds to a level of approximately 200 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), a figure mentioned in the European Commission’s proposals.

It is well above the price level of the last two years but also below the level recorded on Monday of the market price for delivery to Germany in 2023, which stood at 479 euros.

Also, the Government in Prague will guarantee that the public sector, including hospitals, municipalities or schools will have guaranteed delivery at the same prices.

Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura estimated that the cap would cost the state up to 130 billion Czech crowns ($5.36 billion) in 2023.