Bulgaria’s Energy Watchdog Serves Corporate Interests – Ex Minister

Dragomir Stoynev, MP from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and former Energy Minister in the Oresharski Cabinet, photo by BGNES

Dragomir Stoynev, MP from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and former Energy Minister, has accused the Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) of protecting the interests of power distributors.

Stoynev claimed Friday that DKEVR Chair Svetla Todorova was delaying the signing of penal rulings against the three power distributors operating in the country and their stature of limitations could expire.

He noted that Todorova had admitted that she had not signed the penal rulings during Thursday’s sitting of DKEVR.

“Many of these penal rulings expire this week and if they are not served today, everything ends here. I suspect that somebody is protecting the interests of power distributors. We want them to respect institutions and function in the way they do in their home countries. This situation gives rise to doubts that DKEVR is protecting corporate interests,” Stoynev declared, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Meanwhile, Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister for EU funds, made clear that he had discussed the matter with Todorova Friday morning and she had convinced him that she abided by the rules.

Donchev reminded that a set of changes to the Energy Act, which had passed first reading at the parliamentary energy committee, provided for the election of DKEVR members by Parliament and for parliamentary control over the watchdog, adding that this would change the existing situation.

He pointed out that the ongoing argument over DKEVR increasingly appeared to be politically-tainted and not driven by expert opinions.

Donchev presented statistics indicating that hundreds of penalty statements had been issued against power distributors over consumer protection violations.

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