The ambassadors of Italy, Korea, and the US have opposed a set of Energy Act amendments in a letter to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

The legislative changes passed first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.

According to the three ambassadors, as cited by dnevnik.bg, Bulgaria is heading in the wrong direction and the measures will harm the interests of investors and result in a deterioration of the business environment.

They say that the legislative changes, which are to have a retroactive effect, do not solve existing problems but rather create new ones and they have to be voted down.

“Hundreds of millions of euro was invested in the Bulgarian economy in the form of renewable energy projects built by investors from our countries,” the envoys say, stressing that the green energy plants contributed to the energy security and independence of Bulgaria.

The diplomats claim that the assumption that renewable energy producers have been granted too many preferences is a misunderstanding.

They point out that a large part of the investors have not received dividends from their investments in Bulgaria until now.

The measures will have a detrimental effect on the financial condition of the companies in the renewable energy sector and will endanger investments, the three ambassadors say.

The envoys warn that the retroactive application of measures will cause the business climate, which has been unfavorable for the past three years, to deteriorate further.

They remind that retroactively applied measures have been blocked by court before.

Some of the measures create uncertainty among current and potential investors and imply risks of unequal treatment, the ambassadors say.

They insist that a central part of any reform must be to make sure that the energy watchdog is independent and free from external influence.

The letter concludes that the legislative changes will inflict inestimable damage on the investment climate in Bulgaria.

One day ago, the legislative changes were condemned by several associations of foreign investors in Bulgaria, including Advantage Austria in Bulgaria, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, The British Bulgarian Business Association, and Confindustria Bulgaria.

Renewable energy producers in Bulgaria have also expressed their disapproval of the legal amendments.