Bulgaria to liberalise its energy market in compliance with EU requirements

“Bulgaria will meet the requirements of the European directives on the liberalisation of the gas and electricity market after adopting amendments to the Energy Act,” Deputy Energy Minister Delian Dobrev said today at a forum on smart energy, reported BTA. “The statement of the European Commission says that Bulgaria should report progress in implementing these EU directives over the next two months,” added Dobrev. The Energy Act was approved at first reading by the Parliamentary Economic Committee after sharp criticism on the part of the opposition. According to Dobrev, the main criticism of Brussels is that the National Electric Company (NEK) has not been separated from the Energy System Operator (ESO), but the process is in progress now. As early as next month, a contract will be signed with the consultant who will propose the options for the separation. The entire procedure will take nine months. In the first three months, the consultant will make an analysis of the best way to accomplish the separation, which will actually start afterwards. During the last three months, monitoring will be carried out in order to correct deficiencies. The problem with ESO is that the grid which it operates has been pledged as a guarantee of NEK’s credits of almost BGN 1 bn. Prior to transferring the assets, talks should be held with the lending institutions.

The separation of Bulgartransgaz in an independent entity will be easier but this has not happened either. The separation of Bulgargaz from Bulgartransgaz has been effected and, with regard to the free trade in gas, Bulgaria has not fulfilled only the requirement for trade in virtual capacities along transit pipelines. “This will be regulated by changing the terms in the contracts with Gazprom,” commented Dobrev.

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