Valentin Nikolov: An attempt is being made to control energy companies

The caretaker Minister of Energy wants to put in BEH some people who are not clear how they were elected and what concepts they have. This is an attempt to control the holding companies. This was explained by the executive director of BEH Valentin Nikolov to radio K2. His statement was made on the occasion of the requests of the Minister of Energy Andrey Zhivko to release the entire management of the holding. "As far as I know, Zhivkov will again try to enter this week on the edge of the law, even outside the law, so we will refer to the relevant authorities. But at the moment I can sign in the holding, and he had stopped that. If it had continued, then the holding would have entered a very difficult situation, "Nikolov explained on the occasion of the maturity of the holding's Eurobond issue worth 550 million euros, which matured recently. This action of the Minister has endangered the financial security of the holding.

Nikolov is unsure whether the new energy minister will be able to implement the concept in energy, provided he is effectively blocked by the caretaker minister, who is trying to control energy. He went on to say that no one had asked the state energy sector what it thought of the recovery and sustainability plan. "I don't know where the ideas in this plan come from, because if you don't adjust your watch with the state energy, with a working team that will be the same for the next and the next minister!”,  Added the chairman of BEH.

There are many embarrassing and unspoken things in the plan regarding the Maritsa basin, Nikolov added. The system operator also believes that this plan is not good and that it directly affects the future of energy, he added. On the other hand, we are trying to make our energy more and more financially efficient and we are trying to manage things like that with TPP Maritsa East 2, because you know that a large part of the costs are for carbon emissions, but this affects over 7,200 people in the Maritsa East mines and about 2,500 in the Maritsa East 2 TPP, ie about 10,000 people depend on the efficient operation of the Maritsa East 2 TPP and the Maritsa East mines. I think we are doing well so far, but this hostility and insecurity is shaking the system! ”Nikolov was categorical. According to him, all decisions for the Mari basin affect about 30,000 people, so the Recovery and Sustainability Plan should clearly describe what is expected in the next few years. Any abrupt decision will blow up the social situation, "said the head of BEH.

Regarding the price of electricity, Nikolov explained that a year ago on the stock exchange the price of electricity was about BGN 80 / MWh, and now it reaches BGN 250 / MWh. This is observed not only in Bulgaria, but throughout Europe. "The prospect of the price remaining high is high. This means that the price for households will also rise. The electricity market for households will now be competitive and households will feel it in their pockets. That is why the socially poor have to identify themselves very quickly in order to be able to be helped, because they will not be able to withstand the price shock. The National Assembly must take urgent measures, "Nikolov said.

Nikolov also reminded that Bulgaria cannot move to full liberalization of the energy market if the issue of long-term energy contracts, which have been inherited for many years, is not resolved. This must be one of the first tasks of the new government. As for the Belene project, Valentin Nikolov said that the uncertainty and lack of a parliament hindered the development of the project and saw no prospects, provided that there was no firm parliamentary majority behind it. There are bigger prospects for Units 7 and 8 of Kozloduy NPP. In any case, we need basic nuclear power, which must begin now.