site.btaNationally Representative Employer Organizations Renew Joint Actions for Energy Reforms

Nationally Representative Employer OrganizationsRenew Joint Actions for Energy Reforms

Sofia, January 13 (BTA) - The nationally-representative organizations renew their joint actions for reform in the energy sector, the organizations said after a working meeting late Tuesday evening. Participating in it were the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Industrial Association,  the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, the Sectoral Association of the Metallurgical Industry, the Bulgarian Mine and Geology Chamber and the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers among others.

The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria put forward in October what they called measures for reforms in the energy sector. The said measures include purchase of the bank credits of green energy plants and their subsequent restructuring through the Bulgarian Development Bank to enable subsequent contracting of lower purchase prices for their electricity. The plan also proposes that the State buy out the shares of two US-owned power plants,  AES Maritza East 1 and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3, and then offer them to a different investor.

The participants in the meeting noted that, regardless of the commitments undertaken, the institutions have not presented a draft of a road map for energy reforms, an analysis of the compliance of the RES plants with the legal procedures, a decision about the inclusion of the public service obligation charge in the price of electricity, exported to non-EU member states and an analysis of the price-formation methodology, used by the energy regulator.

Only one of the measures, proposed by the employer organizations, has been fulfilled: a ban on the purchase at preferential prices of biomass from sites, set into operation after January 1, 2016.

The participants were unanimous that the agreement with the employer organizations regarding the energy reforms has been fully neglected and, therefore, joint actions are required in order to renew the dialogue with the institutions and resolve the problems.