Power Distributors in Bulgaria Warned to Pay National Power Co ASAP

Power distributors must pay back BGN 318 M to Bulgaria's National Electric Company by Tuesday or face a license termination procedure and referral to the prosecuting authority.

Speaking Sunday during a seminar of ruling party the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in Borovets, Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev drew attention to concerns that the

Members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party explained they were worried by the abuse of power distributors which failed to keep their contractual obligations.

"The matter involves a methodology for offsetting costs for renewable energy which was in effect during the term in office of GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) government in 2012-2013. This methodology was dropped following a decision of a 5-judge panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) but the abolition was not triggered by problems with the methodology but by procedural breaches. On the basis of this decision of VAS, power distributors started arbitrarily offsetting their expenses by not paying invoices of the National Electric Company (NEK)," he explained, as cited by Darik radio.

He said that VAS had not authorized power distributors to offset such expense using payments to NEK, adding that the move created an imbalance in the system.

Stoynev underscored that the power distributors had coordinated their activities so as to stop payments to NEK simultaneously.

Bulgaria's Energy and Economy Minister noted that the actions of the three power distributors could be interpreted as an attempt to destabilize the energy system, thereby endangering Bulgaria's national security.