The heads of four employers’ associations submitted tip-offs with the prosecuting authority for three types of irregularities in the energy sector.

Vasil Velev, Chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), Bozhidar Danev, Chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), Tsvetan Simeonov, Chair of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), and Kiril Domuschiev, Chair of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIBG), told Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov on Wednesday that the elimination of the flaws identified by them could result in a reduction in electricity prices.

Tsatsarov, as cited in a media statement of the BIA, reminded the chairmen of the four organizations that a working group including representatives of the Energy Ministry, the State Agency for National Security (DANS), and the prosecuting authority was investigating potential offences in the sector and vowed that the results of the probe would be published in November.

One of the tip-offs concerns offences committed by renewable energy plants, including photovoltaic plants which functioned at night and plants from which electricity was bought before their official launch, conflict of interest over the actual ownership of renewable energy plants, and a failure of regulatory bodies to exercise appropriate control and hold the offenders responsible for their actions.

The four organizations suggest that the prosecuting authority notify the competent US bodies about the privatization of the two thermal power plants in the Maritsa Iztok Complex, AES-3C Maritza East 1 EOOD and ConturGlobal Maritza - East 3, currently owned by US investors.

The tip-off related to the two US-owned thermal power plants says that they concluded unfavorable deals for electricity supplies which also violated EU competition rules.

The third signal involves an alleged breach on the part of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR). On July 31, a decision was published on the website of the energy watchdog, which was subsequently replaced with another version, which was more favorable to photovoltaic plants, according to the four employers’ organizations.