World Bank: Bulgaria Loses BGN 2 M Daily from Energy Mess

Business » ENERGY | May 29, 2013, Wednesday // 08:36
World Bank: Bulgaria Loses BGN 2 M Daily from Energy Mess: World Bank: Bulgaria Loses BGN 2 M Daily from Energy Mess Bulgaria's caretaker Economy and Energy Minister, Asen Vasilev (l), and caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, photo by BGNES

The excess of electric power generating capacity of Bulgaria is so large that there will be a surplus of energy in the country even in 2030 when consumption will be higher.

The conclusion comes from the report of the World Bank and the European Commission on the Bulgarian energy sector.

Caretaker Economy and Energy Minister, Asen Vasilev, and caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, presented Tuesday the report and the ideas of the caretaker Cabinet for changes in the energy legislation.

Due to unresolved problems in the energy sector – the obligation of the State to purchase expensive energy, the huge share of expensive renewable energy, non-transparent and unfair price formation in the Renewable Energy Sources sector and other energy sectors, the State is losing anywhere between BGN 800 M and BGN 1.1 B a year and will be losing the same amount all the way to 2030.

"Currently and in the future, the annual expenditures in the energy sector exceed the revenues. The delay in the reforms costs us BGN 2 M a day," Vasilev said.

The yearly cost to fill the fiscal gap in the energy sector amounts to 1.16% of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

One of the strongest recommendations in the report is the dismantling the Bulgarian Energy Holding, BEH, as an unnecessary body, making price formation and expenditures in the State companies (the National Electric Company, NEK, the Energy System Operator, ESO, the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, the Mariza Iztok 2 Thermal Power Plant, TPP, among others) non-transparent and generating cross-subsidizing.

Vasilev further says BEH is a corporate structure that is concealing the deficits in the State companies, noting that NEK only has a net debt of BGN 2.1 B.

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Tags: BEH, Minister of Regional Development, Deputy Prime Minister, caretaker, assistance, energy, electric power prices, caretaker, asen vasilev, Energy and Tourism, Minister of Economy, DKEVR, energy sector, Bulgaria, European Commission, EC, World Bank, Ekaterina Zaharieva

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