Bulgarian Economy Ministry Blames EU Suit on Watchdog

Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has issued a statement effectively blaming the EC suit against Bulgaria over its partial energy rules transposition on the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), an energy watchdog.

The European Commission is referring Bulgaria, Estonia and the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully transpose the EU internal energy market rules, EC said Thursday.

According to the EC's press office, to date Bulgaria, Estonia and the UK have only partially transposed the Electricity and Gas Directives. The Directives had to be transposed by the Member States by 3 March 2011.

On Friday, however, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry's statement put the blame with DKEVR.

It explained that after the adoption of the updated Energy Act on July 3, 2012, its related ordinances were supposed to be adopted within a year, and that the Economy Ministry has sent three letters to the energy watchdog (in August, October, and January) to urge it to speed up the adoption of its ordinances for the Third Energy Liberalization Package because Bulgaria could face an infringement procedure over the issue.

DKEVR was thus supposed to adopt Ordinances for the Regulation of Electricity and Gas Prices, and an Ordinance for the Licensing of Energy Activities and Rules on the Access to the Gas Transit and Distribution Network.

The Ministry said it got only one reply from the energy watchdog when in September 2012 its chairman Angel Semerdzhiev notified it that the respective ordinances would be adopted by the end of 2012.

The Economy Ministry stressed that the EC sanction refers only to the transposing of the internal energy market rules and does not refer to the setting of Bulgaria's Electricity System Operator apart from the National Electric Company NEK, which is currently in progress.

Earlier on Friday, DKEVR head Angel Semerdzhiev stated that Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, DKEVR, has already adopted one of the Electricity and Gas Directives, requested by the European Commission.

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