Evgenia Haritonova, Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), has suggested that Bulgaria is not to blame for the losses of power distributors.

In a Monday interview for the morning broadcast of private TV station bTV, she explained that power distributors were piling up losses in Bulgaria due to universal EU-wide rules.

Haritonova's comments, as cited by dnevnik.bg, came in response to the intentions of EVN to sue Bulgaria over the dispute with DKEVR over the obligations for purchasing electricity from renewable energy sources.

Stressing that it had accumulated losses of BGN 100 M in Bulgaria, EVN vowed on March 19 to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Arbitration to protect its investments, unless an agreement was achieved within 3-6 months.

In her Monday interview for bTV, Haritonova pointed out that energy from renewable energy sources was bought at preferential tariffs in the home country of EVN too.

"The prices set in Bulgaria until 2012 were consistent with the average European prices for the respective type of RES, so Bulgaria is not to blame for this, but rather the EU requirements for renewable energy sources," she stated.

Commenting on electricity prices from July 1, 2013, the DKEVR Chair noted that the deadline by which power distributors could file requests for changes to power rates had expired on March 29 and the documents were yet to be reviewed by the watchdog.

She reiterated that the electricity market liberalization would lead to a slight increase in the first few years due to the initial investments of the traders.

Haritonova added that a dramatic spike in electricity prices could take place if the entrepreneurs decided to build their own power distribution networks instead of using the ones owned by "the natural monopolies," stressing that the scenario was quite unlikely.

The DKEVR Chair informed that the watchdog had granted registration and licenses to a total of 110 electricity traders had been registered and they were expected to offer their services to household consumers in the near future.