Economists against energy holding Economists stood against a merge of the state companies into an energy holding. This would trouble the competition and will affect negatively on the market, said in an analysis Petar Ganev of Market Economy Institute. The idea for an energy holding is from the time of Milko Kovachev management and is supported by ex-Minister Roumen Ovcharov and the current Minister Petar Dimitrov. The Ministry is proceding on the preparation of a holding that will unite Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC, Thermo-electric power plant Maritsa-iztok-2 SPJSC, Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy SPJSC, National Electricity Company (NEK) SPJSC and Bulgargaz holding SPJSC.
Source: Standart (07.01.2008)

Maritza-Iztok emits 85% of greenhouse gases in Bulgaria: deputy minister The European legislation has been enforced in Bulgaria horizontally since 2003. The whole Maritza-Iztok energy complex emits 85% of the greenhouse gases in Bulgaria, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Atanas Kostadinov said in an interview with the Bulgarian NOVA television. “There is no project about sulfur dioxide installations and no tender procedures have been held. If no effective measures are undertaken and if EU Directive 2001 and Regulation 10 are not implemented, Bulgaria will be imposed sanctions,” he added.
Source: Agency Focus (15.01.2008)

The state-owned energy companies should go public while the government should abandon its plans to consolidate all state-owned energy assets into a holding structure, representatives of the Bulgarian power industry demanded at a public discussion Monday. The government coalition decided this past weekend to move ahead with plans to merge Bulgargaz Holding, power grid operator NEK, the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, thermal power plant Maritsa Iztok 2 and mining company Maritsa Iztok. The new structure will further complicate the problems already afflicting the management of the companies and as a solution is tailored only to the needs of power generation, said expert Lyulin Radulov. The creation of the mega-holding would stunt the development of the market and would provide opportunities for cross-subsidising, said executives from non-ferrous company KCM.
Source: Dnevnik (12.02.2008)

Bulgaria's Business Community: Put Power Engineering on the Counter Bulgaria must place its power-engineering on the counter if it wants to stabilize the state-owned enterprises in energy sector. This was the conclusion drawn yesterday at a roundtable discussion of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, under the topic The Bulgarian Electricity Market. According to representatives of the Bulgarian business community, the setting up of an energy holding would not solve the issues of the state-owned energy enterprises. It would rather deepen the crisis in the state-owned energy companies, which resulted from complicating their management hierarchy, experts said flat. "To revive the state-owned energy companies requires heavy investments," asserted Liulin Radulov, who is an energy expert. In his opinion, merging the state-owned Maritsa Iztok Mining, Bulgargaz Holding, National Electrical Company, Maritsa Iztok-2 Thermal Power Plant and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant into a single large holding would not settle their issues and magically change them into companies capable of withstanding fierce competition on the liberal market. "Therefore a decision has to be taken whether to denationalize them or draw in strategic foreign investors, well-known at the European energy market, who would pour money into them," Radulov pointed out. The example Radulov gave to bear out his argumentation was the privatization of the power distribution companies, which lead to their restructuring and the stabilization.
Source: Standart (12.02.2008)

The Council of Ministers decided to unite five power-supplying companies into Bulgarian Energy Holding. Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC, Thermo-electric power plant Maritsa-iztok-2 SPJSC, Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy SPJSC, National Electricity Company (NEK) SPJSC and Bulgargaz holding SPJSC will became a part of the new company. The assets will be EUR 4 billion and the forecast year income – EUR 1,8 billion. It will be one of the largest power-supplying companies in the region. The state will own 100% of the capital of the Bulgarian Energy Holding.
Source: Darik Radio (14.02.2008)

Bulgaria Launches Mega Energy Holding for Christmas The new mega holding will foster the five state energy companies - Maritsa -Iztok Mines, Maritsa -Iztok 2 Thermal Plant, Kozloduy NPP, the National Electric Company and Bulgargaz. The Ministry of Energy and Economy will keep the majority share (between 51% and 75%) in the five companies and the minority shares (between 25% and 49%) will be transferred to the newly-established mother company. The restructuring will be realized in two stages. The BEH's assets will amount to four billion euro which means it will be one of the largest energy companies in the region. The company is planned to have an annual income of 1.8 billion euro. The state will hold 100% of the holding's capitals.
Source: Standart (14.02.2008)

R epresentatives of the business from Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Kardjali and Smolyan regions discussed in Stara Zagora the major energy projects in the country, as well as the investments in the sector and the opportunities provided by the European funds. The meeting was held as part of the presentation of Pari daily's Gepard magazine, which ranks the most dynamically developing companies in the four regions. The meeting was also attended by Yordan Dimov, deputy minister of economy and energy.
Source: Pari (27.02.2008)

The city of Stara Zagora has by far surpassed Sofia in terms of salaries. According to the estimates of jobtiger.bg, one of Bulgaria's largest employment websites, the average wage there is 894 levs (about 450 euro,) whereas in the capital the same is 108 levs less. The generosity of the local employers, however, by no means is explained by rising standards of living, neither does it result from improving business environment. Thermal Power Plant Maritsa-Iztok's regular emitting of toxic gases is the main reason why qualified hands leave Stara Zagora along with their families. "The only way to keep the population is to offer larger payment," local entrepreneurs admitted. Similarly, the average wage in Sofia District exceeds payment in the capital by 100 levs. "It is very difficult to find people to work for you in Pernik, Zlatitsa and Pirdop because the air polution caused exodus in the past several years," employers from these towns pointed out.
Source: Standart (10.03.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC reported a record production of lignite brown coal for the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period last year. From the beginning of the year until march 16, the mines have extracted 5.453 mln tons, which is 7 percent more than the planned quantity. The 2007 production also set a record – 23.928 mln tons of brown coal, which is 2.578 mln tons more than planned. Mines Maritsa Iztok plans the extraction of 23.1 mln tons in 2008. On Friday the company will begin the extraction operations on the coal volumes, like the pits Troyanovo – Sever and Troyanovo – 1, which have been blocked until now.
Source: Monitor (20.03.2008)

Greece-based PPC, the company which could not manage to acquire Thermal Power Plant Bobov Dol wants to buy 800,000 to 1.2 mln tons of coal per year from Mines Maritsa Iztok. This was announced by the chief executive officer Ivan Markov after the ceremony for the start of operations at the pits Troyanovo – Sever and Troyanovo – 1, holding deposits of 200 mln tons. The deal is being prepared, added Markov and pointed out that the interest in Bulgarian coal is due to the higher quality than the quality of the coal extracted in Greece.
Source: mediapool.bg (24.03.2008)

Maritsa Iztok Mines to export coal to Greece Greece's PPC is willing to buy coal from Bulgaria's Maritsa Iztok Mines, the company's executive director, Ivan Markov, said. The negotiations with the Greek company are at an early stage. A special operation was launched at the mines for utilising the coal layer between the Troyanovo 1 and Troyanovo North pits. That will allow the extraction of 175 million tonnes of low-ash coal. The total deposit exceeds 2.1 billion t, which is sufficient to cover Bulgaria's needs for the next 50 or 60 years. More than EUR 250 million has been invested in preparation of the operation. Production has to reach 33-35 million tonnes in the next few years. As much as 23.8 million t of coal is planned to be dug from the company's three open pits this year. The consultant on the selection of an investors in Maritsa Iztok's fourth thermal power plant will be clear by June, Markov went on to say. Interest in the project has been demonstrated by Enel, AES, RWE, CEZ, EVN and Bulgaria's Brikel. The construction of the new capacity is expected to begin by the end of 2009.
Source: Pari (24.03.2008)

Bids for job to advise creation of energy holding due Jun 10 Bulgaria has opened a procedure to select a consultant for the incorporation of an energy holding that will consolidate major state-owned power assets like the Maritsa Iztok mines, the Maritsa Iztok 2 thermal power plant, gas distributor Bulgargaz and the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The task of the advisor will be to organise and implement the preparatory work, to register the holding and come up with guidelines for the consolidation of the company and for the improvement of the regulatory framework. The eight-month advisory contract will generate a remuneration of 800,000 levs without taxes. The procedure is open to local and otherwise outfits, tie-ins and individuals. The bids should be submitted by June 10. Deloitte Bulgaria was hired by the economy ministry to draw up the energy holding concept. The model for the restructuring of the companies that will be consolidated into the holding was okayed by the government two months ago. Deloitte estimates that the consolidated revenues of the new structure will add up to 1.78 bln euro with assets topping 4 bln euro. The consultant cautions that the lumping together of the earmarked companies will not automatically result in a higher credit rating for the umbrella structure.
Source: Dnevnik (07.05.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok report BGN 8.9 mln profit Mines Maritsa Iztok finished the fiscal 2007 reporting a net profit of BGN 8.9 mln, said CEO Ivan Markov. Half of it was allocated as dividends. About BGN 100 mln are planned for corporate and local taxes. The principal of the company has allowed the price of a ton conditional fuel by 14.09% since April 1. This would allow further modernization of the mechanical equipment, said Markov. However, the BGN 90.6 mln investment program will be reduced and some of the planned reconstructions will be delayed for 2009.
Source: Pari (10.05.2008)

The Maritsa Iztok mining company has divided the candidates to build a new lignite-fired power capacity in the Maritsa Iztok coal basin into two groups: companies with their own site and companies that will be provided with a site, said a source close to the project. The first group is made up of Italy's Enel, AES of the U.S. and local company Brikel. Germany's RWE ad E.ON comprise the second group.
Source: Dnevnik (19.05.2008)

The Ministry of Economy and Energy (MEE) has imported in the Commission for Protection of Competition a notice of its intention to create an energy holding company, including five public companies - Bulgargaz, NEC, Mini Maritsa Iztok, TPP Maritsa Iztok-2 and NPP Kozlodui, announced from the Ministry on Thursday. The preliminary assessment for a possible monopoly is compulsory for merger or acquiring of companies. The submitted file for the creation of future megaholding is the second step in its structuring. Recently, MEE announced a procedure for assigning of public order for choosing a consultant in case of implementing the holding model.
Source: mediapool.bg (23.05.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC – Radnevo quarried nearly 9.5 mln tons of coal since the beginning of the year up to 28 May, which is over 650 tons more than the yield for the same period last year, experts from the company announced. The performed quarry is a record for the last 8 years. 1,282 mln tons of coal were obtained in the company only in May, which is 595 tons more than the same period of 2007 and it is the highest yield for the month since the year 2000 in the mines. By the end of 2008 Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC – Radnevo plans to quarry 23.1 mln. tons of brown coals and to dig, transport and level 95 mln. cubic meters of land.
Source: Monitor (30.05.2008)

Three companies are offering their consultancy services for the implementation of a holding model for the restructuring and consolidation of the state energy companies NEC, Bulgargaz, NPP Kozloduy, TPP Maritsa-iztok-2 and Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC into a megaholding. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy and Energy a day after the deadline for submission of offers for participation in the contract expired. The candidates are Deloitte Bulgaria, which consulted the Ministry during the previous procedure for preparation of a concept for merger of the five state energy companies. Their participation was expected, given the fact that the government approved the principal scheme of the future energy holding. The other candidates are Bulbrokers Consulting and Euroaudit BX.
Source: mediapool.bg (11.06.2008)

Three consulting companies are in the running to advise the Bulgarian energy ministry on the model for the consolidation of state-owned power assets into a holding structure. The bids handed in by Bulbrokers Consulting, Deloitte Bulgaria and Euroodit BX were officially unsealed on Wednesday. The financial parameters of the offers will be announced on June 13. All state-owned power enterprises - national power grid operator NEK, Bulgargaz Holding, the Maritsa Iztok mines, Maritsa Iztok 2 power plant and the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, will be folded into the new holding structure, creating a concentration of assets valued at over 4 bln euro. The annual revenues of the new company are estimated at 1.8 bln euro. The main tasks that will be entrusted to the selected consultant will include making the necessary preparations for the registration of the holding, coming up with guidelines for the consolidation and transformation of the different assets and recommendations to improve the regulatory framework. The selected advisor will also draw up the blueprint for the financial and investment management of the holding.(
Source: Dnevnik (12.06.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok fulfilled its half-year plan before scedule Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC fulfilled its half-year plan for coal extraction before schedule. From the beginning of the year up to June 19 the company has extracted and realized 10,415,861 tons of brown coal. Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC also fulfilled its plan for opening an opencast mine before schedule. In that way, the company has excavated 130 thous, cub.m. of land more since the beginning of the year. Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC plans to extract 23.1 mln tons and to reach 98 mln. cub.m. of new opencasting site. The company also realized an ecological project of scale. About BGN 6 mln will be invested until the end of 2008 in ecological projects and environmental protection activities. Mainly restoration of the fertility of the land, collecting humus in front of the mines and the spoils, as well as recultivation of the soil.
Source: Insurance.bg (25.06.2008)

After an open procedure for assigning a public order and after Ministry of Economy and Energy made a decision, Deloitte Bulgaria SPLTD was chosen for the consultant of the Ministry on the foundation of Bulgarian Energy Holding, said the press center of MEE. The candidates, which applied offers in time for the public order “Consultant services for realization of holding model for re-structuring and consolidation of the energy company with sole capital owner – the State”, were three - Bulbrokers Consulting SPLTD, Deloitte Bulgaria SPLTD and Euroaudit BX Consortium.
Source: Agency Focus (27.06.2008)

Deloitte Consults Bulgarian Government on Energy Holding Delloit Bulgaria Ltd has been selected as a consultant on the establishment of an energy holding, sources from the Ministry of Economy told The Standart. The other candidates were Bulbrokers Consulting and the consortium EuroAudit BX. EuroAudit were ousted from the tender because their offer was incomplete; Bulbrokers' offer was for 725,000 levs (VAT excluded) and Delloit - 736,000 levs (VAT excluded). The energy holding will unite five state-run ventures.
Source: Standart (27.06.2008)

CPC: The energy holding does not threaten the competition The Commission for Protection of Competition decided that the establishment of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, with the purpose of capital participation and/or management of Bulgargaz holding SPJSC, National Electricity Company (NEK) SPJSC, Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy SPJSC, Thermo-electric power plant Maritsa-iztok-2 SPJSC and Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC, would not be concentration of economic activity. The companies would preserve their independence after the establishment, while the Bulgarian Energy Holding would not perform production ot trade activities. Each of the companies would be able to define its market behaviour, it would develop and introduce operational strategies in order to meet the financial goals, put by the holding, would preserve the individually issued licenses and would remain independent, by the other companies and the holding, economic unit.
Source: Darik Radio (01.07.2008)

The Commission for Protection of Competition has permitted the structuring of the Bulgarian Energy Holding with the capital of Bulgargaz Holding, National Electricity Company, Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy SPJSC, TPP Maritsa-iztok-2 SPJSC and Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC. It was determined that the creation of mega-holding is not a concentration of business, but represents an internal restructuring of the state companies and that is why it is not covered by the Law on Protection of Competition.
Source: mediapool.bg (02.07.2008)

The Maritsa Iztok mining company will invite consulting firms to bid for a contract to prepare a tender procedure for the investor in a new power station in Southern Bulgaria, said the company's executive director Ivan Markov. The decision on the launch of the selection procedure is expected to appear in the Official Gazette next week. The procedure for the selection of an advisory company is open to both local and foreign firms and tie-ins. The main criteria for the assessment of the bids will be the respective candidate's prior expertise in similar undertakings and its staff capacity. 'I expect that the consultant will be named within the next three months with the procedure to select an investor getting underway in early 2009,' said Markov. The construction of the new power generation facility, with a capacity of 600 to 800MW, is a priority project in Bulgaria's energy strategy through 2020. A site for the new power station is yet to be picked. Italy's Enel, AES of the U.S., Germany's E.ON and RWE and Bulgaria's Brikel have so far shown interest in the building of the new power station in the Maritsa Iztok coal basin.
Source: Dnevnik (15.08.2008)

Bulgaria Maritsa-Iztok Mine Produces Large Quantities of Coal Since the beginning of 2008, the coal miners from the "Maritsa-Iztok" mine have extracted over 15 millions tons of coal, which is 107% of the quantity planned for the entire year. In August only the company has recorded extraction of nearly 2 million tons of coal. Over 63 million cubic meters of soil have been uncovered, levelled and transported since January of 2008, which is 101% of the planned volume.
Source: Darik Radio (12.09.2008)

Bulgaria's largest open mining complex Maritza Iztok (East) Mines produced 16,080 million tons of coal in the first nine months of 2008, the company announced. The company has overfulfilled its production plan for the period by 7%. The production exceeded its levels compared to the production realized in the same period last year by 581,000 tons. The company plans to produce over 23 million tons of lignite coal by the end of 2008.
Source: Darik Radio (18.09.2008)

Energy companies under the control of Bulgargaz Bulgargaz will be the top company in the future Bulgarian Energy Holding SPJSC (BEH SPJSC). The rest of the state-owned companies to be included in the holding will be NEC, Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy, TPP Maritsa East 2 and Mines Maritsa Iztok. The new company will be based on Bulgargaz as the name and basic line of business will be altered. BEH will remain a joint stock company, 100% state-owned. Capital shares of NEC, TPP Maritsa East 2 and Mines Maritsa Iztok will be transferred into BEH. Except for these companies, the holding will include also the existing Bulgargaz Holding subsidiaries – Bulgargaz - Sofia, Bulgartransgaz and Bulgartel. The new energy giant will have assets worth BGN 8.5 bln, earnings of about BGN 3.6 bln and 21 thous. employees.
Source: Standart (19.09.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC will finish the year with extracted output over 24.5 mln tons. This would be a top achievement for the company and would depend not only on us, but on the market for our products, said CEO engineer Ivan Markov. The 9-month program for coalmining and new rubble horizons has been executed successfully. So far, the output reaches 16.6 mln tons and 69 mln tons of rubble horizon. The units operate normally and the coal supply in them is 798 thous tons of coal. The installation of the rubber-transportation line will be fulfilled within a month, and this would save up to BGN 3-4 mln from electricity costs per year.
Source: Darik Radio (23.09.2008)

Mines Maritsa Iztok with record output in September The output of Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC reached nearly 2 mln tons in September, the company said. The output is record as it exceeded the planned quantity by about 13 thous tons. This means that the production estimate of the company was overfulfilled by over 100 percent.
Source: Novinar (01.10.2008)

The state will provide BGN 300 million for the increase of the capital of the National Electric Company (NEK), which is part of the structure of the Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), created a month ago. The minister will vote on the increase of the holding's capital. It was registered through a change of the registration of "Bulgargaz holding", whose capital is 1 billion levs. BEH unites Matitza Åast Ìines, thermal-electric power station Maritza Åast 2, NEK, Bulgargaz, Bulgartransgaz and Bulgartel. With the BGN 300 million a resource is provided in the intermediate stage of the preparation of the "Belene" project until its financial completion in December 2009.
Source: news.bg (16.10.2008)

Bulgarian Energy Holding, the structure created two months ago to consolidate key power generation assets, reported a 22% rise in nine-month profit revealing no financial details. BEH comprises the country’s biggest coal-fired power plant, the state-owned Maritsa East 2, coal miner Maritsa East, Kozloduy nuclear plant, state-run gas distributor Bulgargaz, Bulgartransgaz, telecom services provider Bulgartel, national power grid operator NEK and the Electricity System Operator. Kozloduy NPP was the best performer in the group. Bulgargaz landed at the other end of the scale with a loss of BGN 35.4 million for the nine months blaming the regulatory axe on its price hike proposal. At the same time, the gas company continued to pocket fees for the transit of Russian gas via Bulgaria at the expense of Bulgartransgaz in breach of the gas directive. The two companies are expected to sign an agreement on the fees by the end of the year.
Source: Dnevnik (03.12.2008)

Coalminer will reduce the investments to the minimum Coalmining companies in Bulgaria will reduce their investments to the technological minimum, according to a research of the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology. This means that the companies will only use only the resources necessary for normal production operations and its technical requirements. The reason for the optimization is that the miners expects 35-40% lower figures this year compared to the previous periods. The Chamber estimates that smaller companies will layoff about 20% of their workforce. Meanwhile, bigger companies suffer shoirtage of workers and will employ additional specialists next year. 11 mining companies are members of the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology. The biggest one is Mines Maritsa Iztok SPJSC, which produces about 80% of the coal in Bulgaria.
Source: Dnevnik (09.12.2008)

The contract for the new facilities for purification of sulphur for fifth and sixth units of Maritsa Iztok 2 thermal power plant was signed on Friday between minister of environment and water and Italian-Chinese consortium, executor of the project. The cost of installation is EUR 75 million, of which EUR 36.1 million non-repayable funds under ISPA programme and EUR 34 million are a loan from EBDR.
Source: Pari (15.12.2008)

Maritsa-Iztok Mines EAD introduced anti-crisis programme that includes measures for cost cuts such as electricity, raw materials, services and reconstructions. The investment programme for 2009 will be decreased from BGN 100 million to BGN 58 million. At present the company has 7,500 employees and no job cuts are expected. The forecast net profit of the mines for 2008 is expected to be BGN 2.1 million.
Source: Pari (16.12.2008)