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Bulgaria won an international arbitration case for nearly 1 billion euros The Republic of Bulgaria won an international arbitration case ICSID Case No. ARB/16/24 before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C., USA. The case was filed on July 26, 2016 by ?EZ a.s., Czech Republic. On January 29, 2026, the arbitral tribunal issued an award dismissing all claims of ?EZ and holding that the actions of the Republic of Bulgaria through the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, as well as the Administrative Court – Sofia-city, the Administrative Court – Varna and the Supreme Administrative Court did not constitute a violation of the standards for the protection of foreign investments under the Energy Charter Treaty. The total amount of CEZ's claims amounted to 967 million euros, as well as interest of 1.9 percent with annual capitalization from the date of the decision until final payment, the Ministry of Finance said. CEZ claimed to be a foreign investor within the meaning of the Energy Charter Treaty on the basis of three separate investments in Bulgaria - in the electricity distribution company CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD and the electricity supply company CEZ Electro Bulgaria AD; in the Varna TPP and in the Bara biomass power plant. The plaintiff challenged the actions of the Bulgarian state, including the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, the EWRC and the Bulgarian courts, alleging violations of its legitimate expectations and arbitrariness in price regulation, the statement said. In relation to the electricity distribution and supply activities, CEZ claimed compensation in the amount of EUR 733 million, alleging that the EWRC acted arbitrarily in setting prices in the period 2004–2018, and that the judicial review of these decisions was unlawful. In relation to the investment in the Varna CHP plant, the claim amounted to EUR 220 million, with the claimant alleging that Bulgaria had not fulfilled its commitments to liberalise the energy market and that the price regulation in the period 2006–2014 was unjustified. In relation to the Bara biomass power plant, CEZ claimed EUR 14 million plus interest of 1.9 per cent with annual capitalisation from the date of the decision until final payment, alleging that changes in the regime for the promotion of renewable energy sources had led to a complete loss of the investment. This is Bulgaria's third consecutive success in the series of cases filed against it by the electricity distribution and supply companies of EVN AG, Energo-pro a.s. and CEZ a.s. The total amount of claims in the three cases amounted to about 2 billion euros.

 

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