Energy Security Fund will collect nearly BGN 437 million in 2017 The fund "Security of the electricity system" will collect revenue in the amount of BGN 436.92 million in 2017. This was stated in the Fund's budget, approved at the government meeting. Nearly half of these revenues - BGN 210 million, are expected to come from selling carbon quotas. With the collected funds expenses of the National Electricity Company will be covered, including from previous regulatory periods. By law, the fund collects under 5% of monthly revenues from sales of electricity producers and importers in the country, access and transmission of electricity and natural gas, access and storage of natural gas and tenders for sale of greenhouse gas emission quotas.
Source: Dnevnik (12.01.2017)

100 MW of electricity from the state NPP Kozloduy and Maritsa Iztok 2 were suspended from the sale of exchange current in recent days, allowing the public provider NEC to ensure the needs of the internal market in major frosts. This became clear at the meeting of the parliamentary committee for monitoring the activities of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission on Thursday. The Energy Minister explained that this happened with the consent of the European Commission. This is an additional measure to ensure power supply in addition to activation of spare production capacity. With the same purpose on 13 January the export of electricity from Bulgaria will be stopped while maintaining transit capacities. The regulatory director admitted that the decision to stop the export of electricity from Bulgaria and Greece violates the supply in the region and creates a chain problem.?
Source: mediapool.bg (13.01.2017)

Six banks, one refinery and a copper plant have declared the highest revenues for 2015, former finance minister Vladislav Goranov said. The top ten companies with the highest number of declared revenues are Post Bank, Central Cooperative Bank, LUKOil Neftochim Bourgas, UniCredit Bulbank, Aurubis Bulgaria, the National Electric Company, Allianz Bank Bulgaria, LUKOil Bulgaria, DSK Bank and Societe Generale Expressbank. In 2014, Bulgargas and GP Reinsurance also featured in this group. In 2016, the companies that paid the highest amount of corporate tax was OMV Bulgaria, followed by LUKOil Bulgaria and Shell Bulgaria. The top ten also included Saksa, Bent Oil, LUKOil Aviation Bulgaria, Petrol, Litex, Overgas Inc. and Eco Bulgaria.
Source: investor.bg (31.01.2017)

Dep.-Energy Minister Becomes Board Member of Bulgaria’s National Electricity Company Konstantin Delisivkov, deputy-minister of energy in the interim government of Ognyan Gerdzhikov, will replace Hristo Georgiev at the board of directors of Bulgaria’s power incumbent National Electricity Company (NEK). Delisivkov’s appointment was announced on Tuesday by its parent-structure Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), along with two more changes at other BEH subsidiaries. Petyo Ivanov, CEO of the holding, will replace Jacklen Cohen at the board of directors of Kozloduy NPP. Furthermore Nikolay Pavlov, currently acting as interim energy minister, will be replaced by Stoyan Yanchev at the board of directors of gas incumbent Bulgargaz. The changes are meant to ameliorate the management of the companies in order to achieve financial stability. Although NEK has seen some improvement in its financial state, in December the government of Boyko Borisov approved EUR 601.6 million state-aid earmarked to secure the payments of the power incumbent, related to the Belene NPP arbitration case with Russia’s Atomstroyexport. In December Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) confirmed its 'B' long-term corporate credit rating on NEK, reflecting on the utility's financial dependence on regulatory decisions.
Source: Monitor (08.02.2017)

EVN unit reaches out-of-court settlement with Bulgaria's NEK The Bulgarian unit of Austria's EVN signed an out-of-court settlement with Bulgaria's state-owned power utility NEK over compensation payments for additional costs involved in electricity production from renewable sources. The compensation will be accomplished by mutually offsetting EVN’s claims with claims of NEK against EVN Bulgaria. In June 2013, EVN initiated international arbitration proceedings against Bulgaria at the ICSID in relation to the pricing of electricity and compensation for public obligations in respect to renewable energy. In April 2014, Bulgaria's energy regulator would launch a procedure to revoke the licences of the local power distribution units of EVN and Czech companies CEZ and Energo-Pro as their outstanding payments to NEK exceeded BGN 347.6 million. At the time, the power distributors stated they owe NEK nothing, claiming that the Bulgarian public electricity supplier had failed to pay them the money they had the right to receive in compensation for being obliged to buy electricity generated by wind and solar power installations.
Source: Capital (14.02.2017)

New EU Regulation Threatens Bulgaria’s Thermo-electric Plants Recently proposed amendments to EU's Industrial Emissions Directive (IED, 2010/75/EU) regarding the industrial CO2 emissions, including that of thermoelectric plants, is threatening to lay off 10,000 Bulgarians employed in the energy sector. The unrest follows a decision of the European parliament of 15th of February to accept a proposal on the reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The proposal is meant to ensure a more cost-effective system of emission reductions and an overall increase of low-carbon investments across the EU. The leadership of Bulgaria's Chamber of Mining and Geology, Maritsa-Iztok Mines EAD, and energy experts have come up with a common declaration against the proposed amendments to the Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference documents, the so-called BREFs. The amendments set stricter permit conditions for CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted by industrial installations. The problems is that none of Bulgaria's thermal plants and mining installations can comply with the new regulations, and their upgrade is going to cost hundreds of millions of BGN.
Source: 3e-news (22.02.2017)

NEK’s loss reached BGN 126.4 million in 2016 National Electricity Company (NEK) reported a loss after tax of BGN 126.4 million for 2016. This is an impressive increase of almost 42% over the previous year, when the negative result was BGN 82.2 million, according to the preliminary annual financial report. The increase of the loss is mainly due to hike in costs under "other", which in 2016 reached BGN 582.9 million, an annual increase of about 700%. But the report is not clear what caused those costs. Another reason for the poor financial performance of the company was the increased financial costs, which last year reached BGN 104 million against BGN 64 million in 2015. Perhaps this increase is due to the interest that NEK must pay for the new bond issue from the middle of 2016, issued by the owner of the company Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH).
Source: Capital (23.02.2017)

Bulgaria needs to address financial sector vulnerabilities, corporate indebtedness - EC The European Commission said on Wednesday Bulgaria needs to make further progress in addressing vulnerabilities in the financial sector as well as high corporate indebtedness in order to resolve the excessive macroeconomic imbalances the country is experiencing. “Reducing the high level corporate indebtedness has been constrained by the delayed adoption of the insolvency reforms and the lack of a deep market for sales of corporate non-performing loans,” the Commission said in its European Semester Winter review. Legislative changes aimed at improving the insolvency framework have only recently been adopted. Implementation challenges, including the qualification and training of judges and the capacity of courts remain to be addressed, the Commission added. Bulgaria is one of six EU member states with excessive macroeconomic imbalances. The other five are Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. According to the review, limited progress has been achieved regarding follow-up actions in the financial sector and improving banking and non-banking supervision. Key challenges for the Bulgarian authorities remain tackling hard-to-value assets and unsound business practices, including related-party and connected lending. Bulgaria’s banking sector has stabilised, but the legacy issues linked to weak governance and supervision have not yet been fully dealt with, the Commission added. The perception of corruption, weak institutions and an unstable legal framework remains a cause of concern regarding business environment. In addition, slow administrative reforms and weaknesses in public procurement continue to affect the efficiency of the public sector.
Source: Sega (23.02.2017)

EVN Puts Gorna Arda Hydro Power Cascade on Hold EVN AG has informed all stakeholders the project for the realization of the Hydro Power Cascade is put on hold. In a statement, EVN says the announcement comes "in relation to its legal obligations as a Vienna Stock Exchange listed company." This is reported in the financial report of EVN AG for the first quarter of 2016/17. The shareholder agreement between EVN AG and NEK for establishing a company for the construction of Hydro Power Cascade Gorna Arda was signed on July 19, 2010. The development followed a pullout of Turish company Ceylan from the project. EVN owns 70% of the project, while the National Electricity Company (NEK) has a 30% stake.
Source: mediapool.bg (01.03.2017)

NPP Kozloduy’s profit for 2016 dropped to BGN 2.4 million The profit of the largest electricity producer in the country - the state-owned NPP Kozloduy fell by 98% to BGN 2.4 million in 2016, shows the preliminary consolidated report of the company. NPP Kozloduy indicated in the report for 2017 that a shortage of funds for its investment program for the period 2017-2021 is foreseen, estimated at BGN 880 million. These funds are needed for the modernization of the plant and the life extension of the 5th and 6th block. However, the company will have sufficient funds to continue its operational activities. The basic revenues for last year were BGN 813.6 million and have decreased by BGN 16 million compared to the previous. Revenues from sales to NEC have increased by BGN 3.4 million to BGN 153.1 million. There is also an increase in income from financing, which increased by more than three-fold to BGN 3.6 million. From the expenditures the biggest growth was recorded in external services - they reached nearly BGN 169 million, which is BGN 56 million more than the previous year.
Source: Capital (22.03.2017)

Bulgaria's Bulgargaz 2016 net profit rises Bulgarian state-owned natural gas supplier Bulgargaz said its net profit rose 80% to 36.7 million levs ($20 million/18.8 million euro) in 2016. however, Bulgargaz's total revenue fell to 1 billion levs in 2016 from 1.4 billion levs a year earlier, the company said in an annual financial report. The company sold 3 billion cu m of gas last year, up from 2.65 billion cu m in 2015. The company noted that in 2016 the cost of natural gas sold, representing 96.6% of total expenses, was 30.36% lower year-on-year. Bulgargaz' total assets decreased to 337.2 million levs in 2016 from 456.6 million levs in 2015. Bulgargaz is part of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), which pools all state-owned energy assets.
Source: Capital (06.04.2017)

The CPC did not find a violation of NEK's controversial transactions The sale of electricity by the National Electric Company (NEK) for about BGN 200 million without auction and competition to certain companies is not an abuse of a dominant position, announced a decision of the Commission for Protection of Competition. The proceedings of the case was launched in the spring of 2015 following a complaint from EVN Trading, which is one of the licensed traders for trading electricity on the free market in Bulgaria. EVN claims that NEK’s behavior is discriminatory, because the company has provided all of its peak energy to a selected group of traders. In addition to the conclusion that the possibilities for import of such energy are not limited and the company has obligations to the regulated market for which a large part of its energy is destined, the CPC concluded that the company does not have a dominant position on the market and has not abused it.
Source: Capital (25.04.2017)

Bulgaria to seek annual renegotiation of Gazprom gas prices Bulgaria will ask for an annual renegotiation of the price of natural gas, which the country buys from Gazprom, as part of its position on the Russian gas giant’s commitments submitted to the European Commission, caretaker energy minister Nikolai Pavlov said on Thursday. “We want gas prices to be renegotiated on an annual basis, while during the first two years the prices should be renegotiated each six months,” Pavlov said in an interview with public radio broadcaster BNR. Gazprom’s commitments envisage that the prices will be renegotiated once every two years, Pavlov added. The current procedure concerns the overall framework, rather than changes to the price calculation methods, the energy minister explained. On Monday, Bulgaria said it will send a request to the European Commission to seek additional information on the commitments submitted by Gazprom. Gazprom is the dominant gas supplier to a number of Central and Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria. In April 2015, the Commission sent a statement of objections expressing its preliminary view that Gazprom had been breaking EU antitrust rules by pursuing an overall strategy to partition Central and Eastern European gas markets. Last month, the European Commission invited comments from all interested parties on the commitments submitted by Gazprom, noting that they would enable cross-border gas flows at competitive prices and help to better integrate gas markets in the region. Gazprom's commitments ensure that restrictions to re-sell gas cross-border are removed once and for all and facilitating such cross-border flow of gas in Central and Eastern European gas markets; gas prices in Central and Eastern Europe reflect competitive price benchmarks; and Gazprom cannot act on any advantages concerning gas infrastructure, which it obtained from customers by having leveraged its market position in gas supply, the Commission also said back then.
Source: Sega (28.04.2017)

NEK Calls for 10% Increase in Electricity Prices from July 1st Bulgaria's National Electric Company (NEK) is calling for a 10-percent increase in the consumer price of electricity from July 1st, 2017. They say someone will have to "foot the bill", be it the industrial consumers or the households. At present, prosecutors are probing into legal consultancy contracts worth BGN 1 mln signed by NEK's management. CEO Petar Iliev says the increase is not meant to cover the consultancy costs of the company under these contracts. He added these contracts have been signed with top-tier legal consultants to represent NEK in international arbitrary cases with total claims of over BGN 1 billion.
Source: Standart (28.04.2017)

Sixty per cent of the top 100 companies report increased annual sales. A little over half of the companies (52) are foreign-owned. The energy sector is most widely represented in the chart with 18 companies, followed by companies in distribution and retail trade (14), and those involved with fuels and machinery (11). State-owned companies have increased by one to eleven. The new addition is the VMZ Sopot ordnance plant. The total assets of the top 50 companies amount to 61 billion leva, which is a 2 per cent increase in 2016. The top 100's total revenue stands at 58.3 billion leva. At the top of the chart is Lukoil Neftohim Burgas (oil refinery), followed by Aurubis Bulgaria (metals), the National Electricity Company (energy), Lukoil Bulgaria (fuels), Kaufland Bulgaria (hypermarket chain), CEZ Electro Bulgaria (energy), Express Logistics and Distribution (trade), Bulgargaz (energy), OMV Bulgaria (fuels), SAKSA (fuels).
Source: mediapool.bg (10.07.2017)

NEK received nearly BGN 291 million from the Energy Security Fund The public utility supplier, the National Electric Company (NEK), was compensated by BGN 290.713 million in 2016 for the renewable electricity purchased and the current long-term contract with the American coal-fired power plants. The money has been transferred from the Power System Security Fund, which accounts for 5% of electricity sales revenues from all manufacturers and importers as well as from the Electricity System Operator and Bulgartransgaz from mid-2015. The fund also includes state revenues from the sale of greenhouse gas emission allowances, which in the past year exceeded BGN 355 million, of which BGN 215,164 million was deducted, and from carbon trading revenues - BGN 140,741 million. The maintaining costs of the fund in 2016 years have been for nearly BGN 132 thousand. After the amount of BGN 291 million is paid to NEK, over BGN 64 million will be left in the fund, to which new greenhouse gas emissions and greenhouse gas revenues are already accumulating.
Source: mediapool.bg (20.07.2017)

The free market brought Kozloduy NPP to a profit of BGN 34 mln The Kozloduy NPP ended the first half of 2017 with a net profit of BGN 33.9 million, the NPP announced on Monday. This is a significant improvement in the financial result compared to the company's profit for the same period last year amounting to BGN 236 thousand. The main factor for this good result is the favorable development of the electricity market and the increase of the average selling prices on the free market during the first half-year. Another factor for the good financial condition of the plant is the reduction of receivables from the National Electric Company (NEK). Revenues from the operation of the nuclear power plant reached BGN 418 million, an increase of BGN 22 million (5.4%) compared to the first half of last year. Most of them - BGN 407.5 mln, are from the sale of electricity, the results show.
Source: Capital (08.08.2017)

Energy Regulator Closes Procedure for Delicensing of EVN Power Distributor The energy regulator has closed a procedure for delicensing power distributor EVN Bulgaria. An announcement about the decision has been published on the regulator's website on Tuesday. EVN is one of three power-distribution companies, taking electricity to the entire southern and southeastern Bulgaria. In March 2014, the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) initiated procedures for the withdrawal of the licence for the activity of electricity supply to the public issued to EVN Bulgaria Elektrosnabdiavane, CEZ Electro Bulgaria AD and ENERGO-PRO Sales AD. The action followed complaints by the National Electric Company (NEK) that the three electricity distribution company were unlawfully offsetting against their receivables and failing to pay up amounts for hundreds of millions of leva due for electricity, for which reason the public provider encountered serious difficulties settling its own obligations to electricity producers. According to information provided by NEK as of the time of launch of the delicensing procedures, the amounts due by the three power distributors totalled 347.6 million leva: 216.6 million from EVN, 67.3 million from CEZ, and 63.7 million from ENERGO-PRO. The regulator's decision to end the procedure for EVN has been made at a closed-door sitting. More details are expected to be published later.
Source: Capital (09.08.2017)

Bulgaria to offer for sale Belene NPP project in 2018 Bulgaria intends to set up a company pooling all assets and liabilities of the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project and offer it for sale at the beginning of 2018, energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Tuesday. “By the end of September we must have a clear idea how to best utilize the equipment for NPP Belene,” energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said in a press release. Petkova reiterated the position of the government that the potential investor should implement the project without a state guarantee or long-term power purchasing contracts. In December 2016, NEK paid 601.6 million euro ($704.9 million) as compensation to Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, for the equipment manufactured by the Russian company for the Belene project, which Bulgaria had abandoned. The sum was awarded to Atomstroyexport by the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva, which earlier in 2016 ruled that Bulgarian power utility NEK must pay compensation to the Russian company for ditching the project for construction of the nuclear power plant.
Source: Other (16.08.2017)

The insurer of the army, NEK and Kozloduy NPP remained unlicensed The Financial Supervision Commission has withdrawn the license of Nadezhda Insurance Company. The decision taken on August 17 is without precedent in the new history of Bulgaria. Among the clients of the company is the Ministry of Defense. Yesterday, MoD officials complained that there are already refusals to pay bills. Among the customers of Nadezhda Insurance Company are also NEK, Kozloduy NPP, CEZ. The majority owner is Viktor Serov, who exercises control over Via Vista Holding, holding 87.21% of the capital.
Source: Sega (22.08.2017)

18 Bulgarian companies in a European ranking 18 Bulgarian companies are among the 500 largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe in 2016 according to the authoritative annual rating of the international credit insurer Coface. Companies are mainly selected by turnover, but additional data such as number of employees, the range of companies, sectors and markets are also taken into account. A leading Bulgarian company in the ranking in 2016 is the Bulgarian Energy Holding, which holds 25th place. Lukoil Neftochim Burgas is 45th and Aurubis Bulgaria is 78th. The rest are NEK, Lukoil Bulgaria, Kaufland Bulgaria, CEZ Elektro, Advance Properties, Express Logistics and Distribution, Bulgargaz, Daphna Group, OMV Bulgaria, Sopharma, BTC , Kozloduy NPP, Saxa, Huvepharma and Astra Bioplant. The last two are listed for the first time. Ten of the companies, including the first 4, go down the list compared to the previous year due to a decline in their turnover. The largest number of companies in the Coface ranking is from Poland - 168 companies, followed by Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Source: 24 chasa (08.09.2017)

9 Bulgarian companies enter the SEE TOP 100 of the largest companies in Southeastern Europe Bulgaria is ranked in the SEE TOP 100 of the largest companies in Southeast Europe with nine representatives. For the tenth consecutive year, the business information agency has produced the annual ranking based on total revenue of the companies in 2016. This year Bulgaria has two representatives less than last year. The best performer among Bulgarian companies is Lukoil Neftochim Bourgas AD, which ranks 5th on the list. Next, ranked 12th, is Aurubis Bulgaria AD. National Electricity Company EAD is 14th in the ranking. Lukoil Bulgaria EOOD took 16th place. The other five other companies in the ranking are: 45th place - Kaufland Bulgaria EOOD, 66th place - CEZ Elektro Bulgaria AD, 82nd place - ELD Express Logistics and Distribution EOOD, 90th place- Bulgargaz EAD and 100th - OMV Bulgaria EOOD.
Source: econ.bg (04.10.2017)

"Standart News" has learnt from its sources that Future Energy EOOD has requested from the Electricity System Operator to be removed from the electricity market, effective December 2, 2017, because it is unable to supply electricity to its customers, its contracts with key suppliers have been terminated and huge imbalances have built up in the balancing group. Czech media have reported that Future Energy in a consortium with an Indian company is the preferred buyer of the CEZ operation in Bulgaria and has offered to pay 312 million euro for the electricity distribution company serving Western Bulgaria, a solar power plant and a biomass power plant, and an electricity trader. "24 Chassa" also covers the story.
Source: Capital (04.12.2017)

The debtors to NEK now 16, at least three electricity suppliers were removed from the market Firms with overdue payables to the public utility provider National Electricity Company (NEK) are increasing from 13 in early November to 16 at the end of the month. This is clear from the published list of traders/producers of electricity with overdue liabilities to NEK for the price "obligation to society". The previous list of commitments was dated November 3. The current one refers to duties as of November 24. The issue is extremely serious, as it concerns not only the financial flows, the formation of a deficit in the state-owned company, but in general the liquidity of the market and the security of the system, especially at the beginning of the winter. Among the debtors continue to be the three companies that were already reported to have been removed from the electricity market - Toshel 92 EOOD, RC Power Energy OOD and KRG SPLTD.
Source: 3e-news (04.12.2017)

ESO gave Future Energy’s clients an exceptional deadline extension for choosing a new supplier The Electricity System Operator (ESO) gave Future Energy’s clients a deadline extension for choosing a new supplier as the electricity supplier has been suspended from the market since 2 December. According to different information sources, its clients are between 3 500 and 5 000, including shopping malls, fast food chains, schools, hospitals and others. A message on ESO’s website says: “In relation to the emergency situation regarding Future Energy OOD suspension from the market and many clients’ switch to a last resort supplier, the deadline within which the distribution system operators will accept applications for supplier switching for those clients, is extended until 15 December.” According to the Rules for Trading with Electric Power, the deadline for that is until the 10th of the previous month. The Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) Assoc. Prof. Ivan Ivanov commented for publics.bg that on the open meeting of the regulator today, when the changes in the Rules for Trading with Electric Power announced in November should be adopted, it will be discussed whether a provision protecting consumers’ rights in such cases can be included in the rules. We would like to remind that on 1 December the electricity supplier submitted a request to ESO to be suspended from the market and as of 2 December this is a fact. The company asked ESO to immediately be removed from the electricity market due to inability to supply quantities for its clients, termination of contracts with key suppliers and accumulation of huge imbalances in its balancing group. The supplier being removed from the market, all its clients automatically go to last resort suppliers, CEZ, EVN and ENERGO-PRO respectively, depending on the licensing territory they are in. One of the purposes of creating last resort suppliers was exactly for such cases where, for one reason or another, the suppliers stops supplying electric energy to its clients, so that they are not left without power supply. The other main aim of last resort suppliers is to incentivize, through higher prices for the electricity they sell, consumers who are obliged to enter the free market to do so as soon as possible. The bad news is that last resort suppliers’ prices are significantly higher than those on the regulated market. Currently, the regulated market price of energy (without charges for network, renewables and imbalances) is 73.92 BGN per MWh, VAT not included. At the same time, last resort suppliers’ price of CEZ Elektro is 124.34 BGN per MWh, ENERGO-PRO – 121.61 BGN, EVN – 149.73 BGN and National Electricity Company (NEC) – 141.56 BGN. The Energy Management Institute (EMI) explained that in such cases clients have three options. The first one is, of course, to stay with a last resort supplier, but it would definitely be more costly. The second is to choose a new supplier if they manage to do so in the respective deadline (until 15 December in the case of Future Energy), the contract will enter into force from January 2018. Third option available to customers is to go back to the regulated market. This would be possible only for clients with the so-called standardised load profile (households and firms on low voltage), but not for companies on medium voltage. EMI also warned that if payment obligations to the last resort supplier are accumulated, supplier switching could not happen until they are paid. According to EMI, the current situation shows that changes in the Rules for Trading with Electric Power beyond those EWRC is about to adopt are necessary. Ivanka Dilovska and Slavcho Neikov said that one of the changes which should be considered is introducing the ability of other electricity traders to require a particular trader’s suspension from ESO. Moreover, the institute believes that procedures, which ESO should follow when suppliers withdraw or are removed from the market, should be set out in detail as well the system operator’s role in this process. EMI does not exclude the possibility that other suppliers would want do withdraw from the market or be removed by ESO. The fact that an electricity trader has left the market does not mean it cannot go back. This could happen by submitting an application to ESO up until 3 months after the withdrawal, EMI explained. A check by publics.bg showed that up until now 11 suppliers have left the market this year. In the group of the withdrawn ones are GUNVOR INTERNATIONAL B.V. (12.01.2017), Tinmar Supply EOOD (15.05.2017), SEE Power Trading AD (07.07.2017), LONIKO EOOD (14.09.2017), SASA GROUP BULGARIA OOD (18.09.2017), Watt and Volt EMT AD (01.10.2017), EDISON TRADING S.P.A. – BULGARIA BRANCH (01.12.2017). Except Future Energy, Dans Energy OOD (07.07.2017), RC Power Energy OOD (26.08.2017) and Toshel-92 EOOD (25.10.2017) were suspended from the market. EMI pointed out that the current issue of the free electricity market is that on the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) a small portion of the whole volume is traded. For 2016, NPP Kozloduy, TPP Maritsa East 2 and NEC, who form 85% of the supply, traded 16.7 TWh in bilateral contracts on their own platforms and 2.182 TWh – on the day-ahead market (DAM). Therefore, there is a shortage of electric energy, especially peak energy on the exchange, where there is transparency on the auctions and participants. This is the reason EMI announced its firm support for the amendment of the Energy Act which would oblige all producers above 5 MW to sell all their energy on the exchange. There is no point for households to enter the free market, until there is no liberalisation of the production, experts from the institute believe. The current situation has confirmed the justification of the government’s slow but certain approach towards market liberalisation, Dilovska and Neikov commented further. According to them, there already is a necessity for the preparation of a comprehensive roadmap for the liberalisation of the electricity market.
Source: 3e-news (08.12.2017)

Bulgarian Energy Holding Will Seek Change of Commitments for Trade on Energy Exchange The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) will approach the European Commission about a possible change in the commitments of state-run electricity companies to sell certain volumes of electricity on the day-ahead market of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange. Participants in a meeting Wednesday, hosted by Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova, rallied around the idea. To avoid the payment of hefty fines because of BEH's restrictions on competition, the Kozloduy NPP, the Maritza East 2 thermal power plant and the National Electric Company (NEC) undertook to sell certain volumes of electricity on the energy exchanges According to data of participants in the market, the shortage of peak electricity is among the reasons for the hike of electricity prices on the free market while at the same time NEC reports that between 50 and 300 MW of the volumes it offers remain unsold. One of the ways to remedy the situation is to ask the European Commission that the volumes offered by the state energy companies be traded through long-term contracts. The request has been prompted by the latest amendments to the Energy Act under which the whole electricity output outside the regulated market will be sold through the energy exchange. Wednesday's meeting brought together representatives of state-run energy companies, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, electricity traders, employer organizations and trade unions who discussed the fears of the business about a possible increase of the price of electricity on the free market and looked for mutually acceptable decisions.
Source: Monitor (21.12.2017)