AES Bulgaria Dismisses Suggestion of Unfair Play

AES Bulgaria, the local unit of  NYSE-listed AES Corporation has said it will provide all the necessary information to assist a possible inspection of alleged irregularities in the energy sector by the country’s Chief Prosecutor's Office as it had done in previous inspections.  

AES Bulgaria operates the 600 MW net coal-fired power plant AES Galabovo located in Maritsa East Basin in southern Bulgaria.  

Numerous checks and audits by Bulgarian law enforcement authorities, including the prosecution, have found no discrepancy with the law in the Power Purchase Agreement signed between the state-owned electricity company NEK and AES Galabovo, AES Bulgaria said in a statement.

The heads of the four nationally-represented associations of Bulgarian employers asked Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov on Wednesday to look into alleged irregularities in the energy sector, including the privatisation contract for the power plant. If those irregularities were eliminated, power prices in Bulgaria could fall, according to the employers.

"“In its business AES Bulgaria is strictly following all legal requirements of the Bulgarian state and the European Union, as well as anti-corruption laws and standards, including the United States’ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” AES Bulgaria Executive Director Olivier Marquette said in the statement.

The contracts between AES and the Bulgarian government are publicly available, Marquette said.

"This is in line with the efforts of our corporation to be loyal and predictable partner of the society we serve," he added.

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