By the summer, the contracts with the American thermal power plants would be terminated By June 30, 2021, Bulgaria must terminate the long-term contracts between the National Electricity Compan (NEC) and the two power plants in the Maritsa basin - ContourGlobal TPP Maritsa East 3 and TPP AES Galabovo Maritsa East 1. This was set less than two months before the end of its mandate by the GERB government in a draft plan for reforms in the Bulgarian energy market, published for discussion by the European Commission. Public consultations on the document will close on February 11th. However, this plan was not discussed by the responsible national institutions, the Institute for Energy Management (IEM) said in an opinion on the document. The experts added that the project was clearly developed by a consultant and there was no clear institutional commitment to the proposed measures. On the occasion of the announced termination of the contracts with the two IEM plants, they recommend a more flexible definition of the deadline, given the expected complex trade negotiations with the companies. They must also be synchronized with the development of the capacity mechanism, ie to compensate for the long-term prices of the electricity produced by the plants. Immediately after that, the role of NEC as a public electricity supplier will be ceased. The opinion recalls a decision of the European Commission from 2015, which states that the Bulgarian energy market is not liquid and transparent and Brussels orders certain quantities of electricity from companies in the structure of BEH to be offered annually on the energy exchange. However, this commitment expired in January 2021. Experts recommend that an analysis of energy market competition be included in the 2030 development plan, because having a dominant player in the electricity wholesale market usually deters investors. With regard to the retail market, two reforms are envisaged - price liberalization and the development of a concept for vulnerable consumers. Full liberalization of households is expected to be completed by 31 December 2024, but no roadmap has been drawn up. By the end of 2021, the definition of vulnerable consumers and energy poverty must be prepared.
Source: Duma (11.02.2021)

NEK wants a rise in electricity prices due to higher costs for harmful emissions NEK has submitted to the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) a request to change the electricity prices set on July 1, 2020 due to the increase in carbon dioxide quotas on the stock exchange. According to the national company, the energy regulator's decision then set an estimated carbon price of EUR 22 per ton, and the average price for the second half of 2020 was EUR 29 euros per ton. At the beginning of the year, it exceeded EUR 31. According to the long-term contracts for the purchase of electricity from the AES Maritsa East 1 and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3, NEK is also obliged to purchase carbon emission allowances for the two plants. As of January 28, when the request for a price increase was submitted, the amount that NEK has to spend on allowances had increased by BGN 149.7 million. The compensation that the company must receive from the Electricity System Security Fund has jumped by the same amount. Plamen Mladenovski, head of the Electricity and Heat Directorate of the commission, said during the discussion of the experts' report that during the first tenders for the year - in early February, quota prices were EUR 32.60 / ton for one of the tenders and EUR 33 / ton of the second, respectively. At the next auctions even higher prices were achieved, as on February 11 the price on the primary market reached 39.62 euros. On the secondary market of the London Stock Exchange, the price has exceeded the psychological limit of 40 euros per ton, which no one expected.
Source: 24 chasa (17.02.2021)

The State Financial Inspection Agency denied access to the Belene NPP inspection report The State Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA) refused information related to the financial audit of NEC in connection with the Belene NPP project. Capital requested access to the inspection report, and although SFIA considered this to be public information, access to it was in practice classified. However, it is common practice to delete sensitive information and make documents available to the public. But this is clearly not the case. The official reason is that the requested information refers to a third party, in this case the state-owned NEC, and SFIA was obliged to ask the "third party" whether it was in accordance with the report to become public. According to NEC, however, the document contains data on the conduct of the procedure for selecting a strategic investor for the construction of the Belene NPP, which are confidential and those that are trade secrets. SFIA points out that the procedure for selecting an investor for Belene NPP has not been completed and the provision or disclosure of such information could lead to unfair competition with respect to the traders involved in it. In addition, the provision of the data from the report could cause a distortion of the entire procedure, which will affect important state interests of Bulgaria, reads the response of SFIA, sent to Capital. However, the Financial Inspectorate provides a summary of the results of the performed financial inspection of NEC, reflected in the report, to which there is no access.
Source: Capital (22.02.2021)

BEH will have a new management, none of the current managers applied in the competition None of the current BEH managers applied in the competition for members of the board of directors announced by the Ministry of Energy. The resigned head of the holding, Jacqueline Cohen, has already stated that he will not stay, and Zhivko Dinchev and Andon Andonov have submitted documents for the boards of TPP Maritsa East 2 and Mini Maritsa East respectively. Seven people will fight for 3 seats on the board. Among them well-known in the energy circles are the former MP Valentin Nikolov, Ivan Andreev, who is a former head of NPP Kozloduy, the financial director of Mini Maritsa-East, Stelian Koev, Dimcho Margitov, who works in BEH, and Lyubomira Gancheva. Kozloduy NPP will also have a change of managers, with the possible exception of the plant's director Nasko Mihov, who is participating in the competition. Ivan Yonchev and Jacqueline Cohen did not submit documents. Yonchev is currently the head of NEK and is applying for it.
Source: 24 chasa (24.02.2021)

Energo-Pro expects a 1.7% increase in electricity prices Of the energy companies that produce, transmit and supply electricity to households, only Energo-Pro, which serves Northeast Bulgaria, has published a forecast of how much electricity will rise in price from July 1, namely by 1.7%. By law, a month before submitting their applications to the EWRC for prices, companies are required to publish their forecast. NEK, CEZ, EVN, Energo-Pro published announcements, but only the latter had a forecast. NEK informs on its website that it does not have the complete information about the pricing elements and cannot predict what price it will ask for. CEZ Electro Bulgaria announces that they will want to cover their inherent costs with the price, eliminating cross-subsidization. The company states that it will reflect the expenses for the purchase of electricity to cover the technological costs and investments for this year, which are BGN 100 million, as well as balancing costs, as well as the return they are entitled to. Elektrorazpredelenie Yug announces that their proposal will be based on the prices from July 1, 2020, indexed with the differences between the forecasted and actually transferred amount of electricity, between the forecasted and actually paid price for electricity for technological costs, between planned and realized investments. The price statement of EVN Bulgaria Elektrosnabdyavane will reflect the liberalization of the electricity market, the revenues they need and the money for energy efficiency. Kozloduy NPP, Maritza Iztok 2 TPP, Bobov Dol TPP and ESO have not published their price forecasts on their websites.
Source: Duma (02.03.2021)

Reserve electricity - from state plants and US TPPs 79% of the capacities that provide the reserve electricity of the Electricity System Operator are from the NEK's WPPs, the two American TPPs and the state TPP Maritsa East 2. This was announced by the Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova. In fact, the main sources of the operational reserve, which should cover the possible needs of the system, are NEK and the state-owned TPP, as NEK is obliged by contracts to buy the electricity from the US TPPs. The remaining 21% is provided by TPP Varna and TPP Bobov Dol, the operator announced. According to the changes in the energy law, there is no longer a cold reserve, i.e. maintenance of non-functioning units, which can be put into operation if necessary. This will no longer pay for availability or not working units. The cold reserve has been replaced by additional services for which the system operator is announcing tenders among producers. Tendering procedures are open to all manufacturers who have passed the tests for the different types of regulation. And they are primary frequency control - within 30 seconds to replace stopped power, and secondary automatic and manual frequency and exchange power control within 15 minutes. So far, the auctions for January and February have passed. The tender for March was canceled due to a technical problem, it is clear from a message on the operator's website.
Source: 24 chasa (10.03.2021)

The trustees of CCB have reimbursed 25% of the money Over BGN 1.25 billion are the funds distributed to creditors by the trustees of the bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank as of the end of March 2021, according to the Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund (BDGF). The amount allocated for recovery is significantly higher than the forecasts for no more than BGN 800 million of the specialized international investigation company AlixPartners Services UK LLP. The data show that for more than 6 years the trustees have managed to collect about 25% of the assets of the looted bank. There is no data on how many of the BGN 1.25 billion in question are the result of the collection of loans provided by the Corporate Commercial Bank, the liquidation of the bank's assets or the declaration of invalidity of set-offs after its bankruptcy. Most of the money allocated for the return - BGN 928 million, actually goes to the BDGF, which is the largest creditor of CCB, after paying off protected deposits in 2015 for BGN 3.7 billion. So far, the bank has returned money to unprotected depositors (those with savings over BGN 196,000) and other creditors with four partial accounts. The list of major unprotected investors includes Sofia District Heating, Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz, BDB, BEH, NEK, Kozloduy NPP, Maritza Iztok Mini, NRIC, as well as government agencies such as the Privatization Agency and the Diplomatic Properties Agency. All of them have so far received no more than 20% of their former savings in the bank.
Source: Sega (15.04.2021)

Fitch raised BEH's subordinated debt rating The rating agency Fitch raised the credit rating of unsecured and non-subordinated bonds of Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) to the level of ‘BB’ from ‘BB-’. The agency also assigns a debt recovery rating of 'RR4' to debt instruments. BEH's credit rating in foreign and local currency remains unchanged - with a "positive outlook" at the "BB" level. The rating has been removed from the "Criteria under observation". Another factor that favors the increase of the credit rating is the expected reduction of the liabilities of the subsidiaries in the structure of BEH. The rating agency estimates that by the end of 2020, about 40% of the debt at the consolidated level belongs to the parent company, and the remaining 60% - to the subsidiaries. The expectations are that the debt at the level of subsidiaries will shrink to 50% by the end of 2021 and to less than 20% by the end of 2023, respectively, as a result of the maturity of the state financing provided in 2016 to NEK.
Source: economic.bg (12.05.2021)

The crisis has shrunk state-owned revenues The crisis caused by the coronavirus has shrunk the revenues of state-owned enterprises, their financial reports show. TPP Maritsa East 2 sold nearly 44% less electricity last year compared to 2019. By the end of 2020 the plant sold 3,252,582 megawatt hours of electricity, and in 2019 the quantities were 5,773,622 megawatt hours. This has led to a drop in the company's revenues by nearly 32 percent per year. In 2020, it generated operating revenues of nearly BGN 460 million, while the previous year they amounted to BGN 675 million. The main revenues come from the sale of electricity on the regulated and free markets, as well as from the provision of cold reserves. The company ended the year with a pre-tax loss of BGN 341 million, an increase of BGN 132 million, compared to the reported loss in 2019, one of the main reasons for the growing loss is the cost of purchasing greenhouse gas emission allowances. "Greenhouse gas quotas from 2013 are an increasingly important item in the variable costs of fossil fuel power plants. TPP Maritza Iztok 2 is disadvantaged compared to the other large power plants of the Maritza Iztok complex, to which NEK pays full availability at significantly higher prices, while at the same time covering the costs of purchasing greenhouse gas allowances", the report says. State-owned enterprise Air Traffic Management also reported a negative financial result. The company is at a loss of BGN 14.6 million, according to its financial report for the first three months of this year. The ATC reported a 44% reduction in revenue from overflight air navigation service charges. Revenues from fees in the areas of airports decreased by nearly 52 percent compared to the first three months of 2020, the main reason being the reduction in the number of flights due to the restrictive measures introduced in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
Source: Trud (18.05.2021)

TPP Maritsa East 2 with a quota of 1 million MWh for the regulated market TPP Maritsa East 2 will have a total annual quota for electricity production of 1 million MWh for the next regulatory period July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022. The Minister of Energy Andrey Zhivkov signed an order that determines this quantity for compulsory purchase by the public supplier for the regulated market. The order was issued on the grounds of Art. 4, para. 2, item 8 of the Energy Act and Art. 25, para. 4 of the Administration Act. It is motivated by the implementation of item 2 of a decision of the National Assembly of 31 January 2020, which obliges the Council of Ministers to take all necessary measures to prevent termination or limitation of the production capacity of coal-fired power plants from the group of Bulgarian Energy Holding. The Ministry of Energy has received opinions from the executive directors of National Electric Company EAD and Electricity System Operator on the need to ensure reliable operation, security and sustainability of the country's electricity system, which necessitates maintaining the efficiency of TPPs. Maritsa East 2.
Source: Trud (29.06.2021)

The state-owned TPP will launch a fifth unit tomorrow to influence electricity prices on the stock exchange TPP Maritsa East 2 launches another unit, so the operating units become five. The other three are undergoing major repairs. Two units in the US-owned ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 are also under repair, and after its completion, its capacity will be traded on the free market. The Bulgarian Energy Holding leaked this information to the media after a working meeting of the subsidiaries in the group. It was also attended by Deputy Minister of Energy Miroslav Damyanov and Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission Ivan Ivanov. The possibilities for reaction on the part of the state-owned companies in the conditions of the rising electricity prices on the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange were discussed. The state power plant has also published three tenders for the sale of electricity, which will be held tomorrow - for the period 16.08.2021 - 22.08.2021 - 150 megawatts, for 23.08.2021 - 29.08.2021 - 150 megawatts and for September for 150 megawatts. BEH reports that in the first 9 days of August the average daily consumption of final suppliers exceeds that set in the EWRC decision by 5984 mWh. To compensate for this overrun, the National Electricity Company uses more energy from the plants with long-term contracts - TPP AES-3C Maritza East 1 and TPP ContourGlobal Maritza East 3, providing full utilization of all operating units, after securing of the required reserve for the electricity system. Currently, two of the units in TPP ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 are under annual planned repairs, agreed between NEK, the plant and the Electricity System Operator. The operation of NEK's HPP is in compliance with the allocated quotas for water consumption by the MoEW and the same is within the set limits. An invitation to participate in the meeting was also extended to employers' organizations in order to create a dialogue and seek workable solutions. According to "24 Chasa", the employers did not appear at the meeting.
Source: 24 chasa (10.08.2021)

Enterprises fall into a liquidity crisis and close due to expensive electricity The Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (BFIEC), Konstantin Stamenov, commented on the high price of electricity. "Unfortunately, we have held the leading position since the beginning of August, excluding the traditionally expensive market in Greece. Compared to Germany, our main export partner, the difference is 76% higher price in Bulgaria", explained Stamenov. The actions of TPP Maritsa East 2, which has already launched 4 power units and increased the amount produced for the free market to normalize the price of electricity for business, do not satisfy the Chairman of the Board of BFIEC. "Business consumers in the country overpaid BGN 64 million due to artificially maintained deficit and market manipulation in the period July 27 - August 9. In a year when we are trying to overcome the negatives of the pandemic. I expect companies to fall into a liquidity crisis and join those that stopped working last week. I'm afraid these are base capacities and the shutdown could destabilize the entire power system. Not only the energy-intensive industry has suffered, but also the medium and small businesses, which will see their invoices in September," Stamenov commented. Prices for August 9 are BGN 303 / MWh for base power and refuted the claim of the Ministry of Energy that with the launch of the third unit, they fell by BGN 70 / MWh.
Source: economic.bg (10.08.2021)

NEK made a profit of BGN 190 million due to electricity from hydropower plants The National Electric Company (NEK) - until recently one of the most losing and indebted state companies, reported significant improvement in financial condition for the first 6 months of 2021. The realized net profit for the period is BGN 190.5 million compared to only BGN 52 million for the same period last year. Thus, the available cash in the company reaches BGN 374 million - one of the highest levels in recent years. This change in the situation is primarily due to two things. First, the rise in electricity prices on the free market - nearly twice a year for the period. And secondly - the drastically increased production of NEK's hydropower plants (all large HPPs in the country) due to the much wetter year compared to the critically dry start of 2020. Nevertheless, NEK remains with nearly BGN 4.14 billion in liabilities (most of them are related to Belene NPP), which even slightly increase on an annual basis. The accumulated loss is BGN 1.24 billion. NEK's total revenues increased by 32.3% or nearly BGN 423 million for the first half of the year. This is mainly due to the much larger quantities of electricity sold on the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange and the higher price of the electricity itself. According to the report, the quantities sold for the free market increased by 1019%, and the revenues received from this - by an even more incredible 1230%. This is mainly about electricity from hydropower plants, which production has increased by 84%. The average selling price is BGN 124 / mWh, compared to about BGN 60 / mWh for the first 6 months of last year.
Source: Capital (24.08.2021)

Expensive electricity is threatening with bankruptcy the water operators Expensive electricity is also threatening water supply and sewerage companies. The management of the Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding warned the deputies about this. The critically high electricity costs of the water and sewerage operators for July and August drastically deplete their financial reserves, said Asya Stoyanova, chairwoman of the Water and Sewerage Holding's Management Board before the temporary parliamentary commission on the revision of GERB's government in the parliament, headed by Maya Manolova. The electricity bills of the water supply and sewerage operators have increased between two and three times in July. Record high invoices are expected for August as well, warned the management of the Holding. Water and sewerage operators buy electricity on the free market, and the price of water for end customers is regulated. In recent months, the price of electricity has risen sharply, forcing businesses to shut down. State railways also complained about high prices. At the meeting of the Audit Commission of Boyko Borissov's management were heard the managements of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX), the employers' organizations and trade unions, BEH, ESO, NEK, Kozloduy NPP, TPP Maritsa-East 2 and others.
Source: mediapool.bg (25.08.2021)

Aurubis Bulgaria entered the top 5 of the largest companies in Southeast Europe The copper plant Aurubis Bulgaria, owned by the German giant Aurubis, climbed to 4th place in the annual TOP 100 SEE ranking of the largest companies in Southeast Europe in terms of total revenue for the first time. This happened after the plant registered a turnover of EUR 2.8 billion in the pandemic 2020. The ranking is made for the 14th consecutive years by the business information agency SeeNews. The Bulgarian coppermaker is the only one in the sector that has climbed to the top 5 of the ranking. In last year's edition Aurubis Bulgaria was in 11th place. The TOP 100 SEE includes 13 more Bulgarian companies. Among the top 5 Bulgarian representatives are also: Lukoil Neftochim Burgas JSC - 20th position, with revenues for 2020 amounting to EUR 1.5 billion. The turnover of the long-term leader in the country decreased by 52.5% compared to 2019, when the company was in 5th place in the ranking with revenues of EUR 3.2 billion. National Electric Company SPJSC - 29th position and revenues for 2020 amounting to EUR 1.3 billion. The amount is 9% lower than in the previous 2019, when it amounted to EUR 1.4 billion. LUKOIL Bulgaria SPLTD - the 40th position and revenues for 2020 in the amount of EUR 1.1 billion. The company recorded a decline in revenues of 34.6% compared to 2019, when they were about 1.6 billion euros. BA Glass Bulgaria SPJSC - the 49th position and revenues for 2020 in the amount of EUR 938.5 million. The company reports a turnover growth of 58%. The old position in the ranking was 98th place.
Source: economic.bg (19.10.2021)

EWRC temporarily reduces the price of electricity for small businesses From November 1, more than 250,000 companies will receive a discount on the price of electricity, which is already chasing BGN 400 per megawatt-hour on the energy exchange. The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) on Tuesday adopted changes in the methodology for determining the prices of the so-called last resort suppliers, which will reduce shifts by BGN 15 to 30 per megawatt-hour. The measure is temporary and will be valid until the end of January 2022. The changes in the methodology are aimed at small and medium enterprises, which from July 1 this year are on the free electricity market, but have not concluded a contract with a trader and are supplied with electricity at the prices of a supplier of last resort - the most expensive way of delivery. Such suppliers are CEZ, EVN, Energo-pro and the state-owned NEK. Currently, about 256,000 non-domestic consumers are in this situation, which is 40% of all consumers on the free market. By the end of January, these consumers will have to sign contracts with suppliers of their choice in order not to pay a higher price. However, companies, and especially energy-intensive companies, expect more serious aid from the state to compensate to some extent for the cost of drastically rising electricity prices.
Source: Sega (28.10.2021)

22 Bulgarian companies are among the largest 500 in Eastern Europe 22 Bulgarian companies rank into this year's TOP 500 of the largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe, which for the 13th year is prepared by the international credit insurance and risk management agency Coface. For comparison, in the previous year Bulgaria was represented in the TOP 500 in CEE with 18 companies. Now the total turnover of the 22 largest Bulgarian companies is EUR 20.748 billion (according to financial statements for 2020) and so the country ranks 7th. Bulgarian companies that rank in the TOP 500 are mainly from the chemical, oil and pharmaceutical industries, along with financial, information and telecommunications services. For another year, the largest Bulgarian company is Bulgarian Energy Holding, which ranks 34th with a turnover in 2020 of EUR 2.861 billion and a profit of EUR 80 million. The second largest Bulgarian company is the metallurgical Aurubis Bulgaria - in 38th place, with 12% sales growth to EUR 2.7 billion and a profit of 135 million euros. LUKoil Neftochim dropped to 111th place (38th last year).
Source: Sega (12.11.2021)

NEK made a record profit of BGN 278 million Record high electricity prices in recent months have been a problem for businesses, but also a source of profit for electricity producers. The National Electric Company, which manages all major state-owned hydropower plants, improved sharply in the third quarter of this year and reported an impressive increase in sales revenue (excluding EUSF compensation) of BGN 1.1 billion over the same period in 2020 to BGN 1.58 billion, and a record profit - over BGN 278 million. The growth of electricity production at hydropower plants after the drier 2020 also contributes to the impressive results - NEK's main capacities such as HPPs and SHPPs have sold 6 times more electricity on the free market during this nine months. Despite this improvement, which will certainly continue until the end of the year, when NEK's profit is expected to exceed half a billion, the state-owned company remains heavily indebted. The total amount of debts increases on an annual basis by about BGN 100 million and reaches the critical BGN 4.15 billion. Much of it is related to the Belene NPP project - formally the two Russian reactors for the plant were paid for by NEK.
Source: Capital (23.11.2021)