"Mini Maritsa-East" buys railway equipment from NEK for over BGN 1.2 million The company "Mini Maritsa-East" has announced its intention to buy technical equipment for railway transport from the "National Electric Company". The market value of the equipment, according to data as of November 10, 2022, is BGN 1,253,928. By purchasing the equipment from "Mini Maritsa-East", they want to secure the production process related to the supply of energy fuel to the thermal power plants by rail in order to guarantees quality and timely execution of their supply contracts. The deal will be done through direct negotiation. This possibility is regulated in the Regulations for the implementation of the Law on Public Enterprises. The texts state that the starting price for the sale is determined by an independent appraiser, following a decision by the Council of Ministers.
Source: news.bg (10.03.2023)

ME is considering building a 4-gigawatt photovoltaic park in "Maritsa Iztok" The Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov has discussed the possibility of large-scale construction of photovoltaic power plants on decommissioned land with the management of the state-owned companies "Mini Maritsa-East" and "TPP Maritsa East 2". The idea is to build a 4-gigawatt photovoltaic park on reclaimed lands of the coal complex in the next 10 years. The possibility of building its own photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 150 megawatts "Mini Maritsa-East" was also discussed. Similar ideas were discussed with the management of TPP-2. According to Hristov, the mines will have to commission someone else to build the photovoltaic facility at their own expense, since banks do not grant loans to coal mining enterprises, and the mines have no way of allocating BGN 250 million of their own funds for such an investment. The idea is that the plant will be paid off gradually with the money from the sale of the electricity produced by the photovoltaics. Private investors are also being sought for the construction of the 4 gigawatt photovoltaic park. However, none have shown interest so far, as it is economically unprofitable. https://divident.eu/
Source: Other (20.03.2023)

And in 2021, the highest salaries are in small municipalities with large employers Small municipalities with a large industrial employer for another year lead the ranking of the highest average wages in Bulgaria and overtake the capital in terms of average wages. In the first place is the municipality of Chelopech, where the gold mining company of the Canadian "Dundee Precious Metals" operates. They are followed by Kozloduy with the nuclear power plant, Pirdop with the copper refinery, Radnevo with the "Maritsa Iztok" mine and the tetsovets, Devnya because of the chemical industry and others with a developed mining and processing industry, as well as with large enterprises in the energy sector. The highest average gross monthly salary in Bulgaria in 2021 is in the municipality of Chelopech (BGN 2,930). In second place is the average salary in Kozloduy municipality (BGN 2,431), followed by Pirdop municipality (BGN 2,205) and Stolichna municipality (BGN 2,144). In fifth position is the Radnevo energy center (BGN 2,040). The top 10 in the country is completed by Galabovo (BGN 1,985), Devnya (BGN 1,947), Panagyurishte (BGN 1,860), Elin Pelin (BGN 1,745) and Bozhurishte (BGN 1,717). The municipalities of Elin Pelin, Bozhurishte and Kostinbrod from the wide periphery of Sofia, as well as the municipalities of Devnya and Beloslav in the immediate vicinity of Varna and the municipalities of Maritsa, Kuklen and Brezovo near Plovdiv are also in the top 20 in terms of salaries in the country.
Source: Standart (07.04.2023)

Property of "Remotex-Radnevo" for sale During the week, part of the assets of the infamous "Remotex-Radnevo" plant, whose activity was mainly repair of the equipment of the state-owned "Mini Maritsa-East", were offered for auction. On August 31, the receiver of the company, which was declared bankrupt in 2016, will try to sell six buildings valued at BGN 215,597.60. The enterprise was privatized in 2001 and by the time it closed in 2013, its owners had accumulated debts estimated to be twice the company's assets. The remains of the company's assets, which are now offered for sale, represent a part of what existed here years ago: 30-40 buildings - a variety of production workshops, two stations - a pumping station and a treatment plant, plus equipment related to the operation of the plant. In 2018, all this was offered for just over BGN 1.5 million, after its price was already considerably lower than in the previous offering – BGN 1,931 million. The only company that expressed interest in their acquisition was the subsidiary of "Minstroy Holding" AD - "Remotex-M". In 2015, "Remotex-M" bought the main part of the assets of the bankrupt plant in Radnevo for BGN 21 million, of which BGN 16 million is the principal amount of non-serviceable debt to "First Investment Bank". With this purchase, the holding became the owner of nearly 290 decares of land in Radnevo and part of the buildings on it.
Source: Banker (25.08.2023)

"Mini Maritsa-East" - from a profit to a loss of BGN 51.4 million in just one year The state-owned Mini Maritsa East, which operates the largest lignite deposit in Bulgaria, reports a loss of BGN 51.4 million for the first half of the year, compared to a profit of BGN 39.3 million a year earlier. There is also a significant drop in the revenues of "Mini Maritsa-East" due to the collapse in the sale of coal. For the first six months of the year, "Mini Maritsa-East" realized total revenues from the activity in the amount of BGN 242 million, which is 40.4% less compared to the same period last year, when they were BGN 406.5 million Within the six months, 10.2 million tons of coal were produced in the mines compared to 17.6 million tons a year earlier. The mines sold coal to partners in the country at a price of 87.35/ton of conventional fuel, which is regulated by the state. In the summer of "Mini Maritsa-East" concluded a contract with the Serbian "Virom Group" LLC with a term of April 30, 2023, and until then the company sold coal to the Serbians at a price of BGN 96.09/TUG. On the second of May this year with an additional agreement, the contract with "Virom" was extended until 30.04.2024, and a higher sales price was achieved - BGN 111.01/TUG. The company's total expenses decreased by 18.45% to BGN 299.3 million. The average number of personnel in "Mini Maritsa-East" is 6,854, which is 56 more than in the first half of 2022.
Source: Capital (12.09.2023)

Parliament overrode the President's veto on changes to the Energy Law With the stipulation that they will rewrite the changes in the energy law, which introduce the gradual liberalization of the electricity market for households, PP-DB, GERB and DPS rejected the president's veto. "We share most of the president's motivations. He is right that there are no set models for how the deregulation of residential electricity prices will happen and that there are many uncertainties, but we will again support the changes to the Energy Act, with the proviso that the next six months , we will fix them", declared the deputy from GERB and chairman of the energy commission Delyan Dobrev. The president attacked the legal changes, arguing that the way in which it is planned to liberalize the household electricity market will lead to a sharp jump in prices at the beginning of 2026. It is planned that from the beginning of 2026 the compensation of household consumers through regulated electricity prices and for them to go to the free market, where the prices are still much higher than the regulated ones, the head of state notes. He points out that there is no adequate mechanism for collecting the necessary BGN 1.5 billion for 2024 and the same amount for 2025, with which to compensate the electricity distribution companies, which will have to sell electricity at regulated prices during these two years. This carries the risk of socio-economic upheavals, the president believes. Radev criticized the still incomplete definition of energy poor households. The President also warns that the deletion of NEK as a public supplier of household electricity and the elimination of the energy mix may cause the production of electric energy from the "Maritsa-Iztok 2" TPP to be stopped and will endanger the functioning of "Mini Maritsa-Iztok" already in middle of next year. Delyan Dobrev explained from the parliamentary rostrum that despite the many ambiguities and shortcomings, they voted on the first and second reading of the changes to the Energy Act in October because we were pressed by the deadlines in the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, promising in the next 7-8 months , until the process of liberalization of the household electricity market begins, to make all the necessary changes for the reform to happen smoothly.
Source: Sega (13.11.2023)

Loss in "Mini Maritsa-East" - nearly BGN 100 million at the end of September The state-owned "Mini Maritsa-East" continues to worsen its financial situation. By the end of September, it was already at a record loss of BGN 99.6 million, with a profit of BGN 60 million for the same period last year, when due to the crisis in electricity prices, coal-fired power plants were operating at maximum capacity. The main users of the lignite coal from "Mini Maritsa-east" are TPP "Maritsa-east 2", "ConturGlobal Maritsa-east 3", "AES - ZS Maritsa-east 1" and "Brickel", and the production is very depending on their load. From the summer of 2022, the company has one more customer - the Serbian "Virom Group", to which it already exports at a higher price than the initially approved price (BGN 111.01/TUG, against the originally agreed BGN 96.09/TUG). The loss of the mines began to accumulate already in the second quarter of the year, when the company turned out to be at a loss of about BGN 51 million. By the end of September, i.e. three months later, it is already almost 50% larger, suggesting even more substantial year-end loss accumulation. The company exploits the largest deposit of lignite coal in Bulgaria and because of this it is completely dependent on its customers, who until last year had a lot of work - and accordingly bought large quantities of coal, this year this is no longer the case. The total revenue for the nine months of 2023 was BGN 329 million, which is 47.9% less compared to the same period last year, when BGN 633 million was reported. At the same time, sales revenue of coal are BGN 294 million, which is a 42% decrease compared to the nine months of 2022, when they were BGN 511 million. This indicator is of particular importance, since coal revenues form 89% of the total revenues of the company. In contrast to revenues, which almost halved, the company's total expenses fell by only 24% to BGN 434 million compared to the same period last year, when they were BGN 572 million. electricity and fuels (due to market conditions) as well as those for external services. 6,834 people are employed in the mines, which is 66 more people compared to the same period last year. At the same time, productivity has dropped dramatically - from 3.75 thousand tons per person to only 2 thousand tons.
Source: Capital (13.12.2023)