The Special Prosecutor's Office and SANS are checking whether there is a crime of a general nature with the price records on the electricity exchange

The price records of electricity in the "day ahead" segment in recent weeks have led to the initiation of an inspection by the specialized prosecutor's office, and SANS will also deal with separate actions from the inspection. The aim is to establish whether there is sufficient evidence of a crime of a general nature, in particular one that falls within the competence of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office. The signal for the verification of the electricity prices on the free market was submitted by BICA, BIA, BCCI and CEIBG, the specialized prosecutor's office announced today.

Thus, the verification of the price of electricity on the free market is already raised from the search for administrative to criminal liability. The question now is whether sufficient evidence will be found for the claims of employers' organizations.

Otherwise, the reasons are clear and consistent, which can be traced in price movements. The signal for a new situation on the electricity market in Europe in this segment appeared in June, when the alarming increase in the value of carbon emissions (CO2) began and in anticipation of the change in the trading system and in particular the suspension of free allowances. In early July, all values ​​began to move on rough data near the limit of 93 - 98 - 100 euros per MWh.

With the onset of July and the entry into the new regulatory period, a change began at a slightly faster pace in the Bulgarian electricity market. The price of the electricity exchange in Bulgaria began to rise in the second decade of July. Thus, on July 19, a price of 117.64 euros per MWh was reached. On the European electricity exchanges in this segment, the values ​​ranged widely from 98.8 to 89.2 euros per MWh.

At the end of July, the values ​​of the IBEX fell to 93.47 euros per MWh, and on the neighboring exchanges in Romania and Hungary remained well above this level - in the range of 102.89 euros per MWh. Then, in fact, the division between the European electricity exchanges started.

On the Western stock exchanges, in particular in Germany, for example, prices in the "day ahead" were much lower - 88.5 euros per MWh, but not in Italy and Spain (105.85 and 99.52 euros per MWh, respectively). This trend continued in the first two weeks of August, but employers' organizations exploded at the price of 155.19 euros per MWh on August 9 this year at the IBEX, given that then in Germany the value was 67.59 euros per MWh.

In fact, a month later, with a delivery day on August 18, the price of the IBEX of 101.37 euros per MWh is lower by 16 euros than a month ago, which decrease is an element of the overall picture.

When tracking electricity prices, it is appropriate to assess the dependence on carbon emissions, which from June to mid-August offer huge surprises, having already hit the level of over 58 euros per ton.

However, it is difficult to say that the average price of the IBEX for the year in this segment will be so high. Moreover, in the period up to May, according to rough calculations, it is 60 euros per MWh, and in March there are prices of 45 euros per MWh, and in February - 37.74 euros per MWh.

Since then, however, the price of carbon emissions has been twice as high, and that of blue fuel - more than twice and a half.

In general, this should take into account the decline in renewable energy production and more specifically wind power during the summer months, the difference in electricity demand, the national energy mix. Last but not least, the heat wave, which covered the countries of Southeast Europe and a number of other data from supply to supply.

However, the search for the reasons is one thing, and the clarification of whether there are violations in the electricity market is another. Therefore, due to the high electricity prices, the EWRC also filed a complaint, which has the administrative opportunity through REMIT to check whether there are prerequisites on the free market for violations - manipulative actions and / or trade in inside information. This is not the first REMIT production by the energy regulator.

Later in October, in a letter to BFIEK, the EWRC wrote that experts from the REMIT Control Directorate (Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, EWRC) were checking more than 30 signals received from IBEX, ASER, market participants and their associations, including on the signal of BFIEK. The alerts contain allegations that certain trading practices of market participants can be defined as manipulation or attempted manipulation of the wholesale energy market. However, according to the rules, the energy regulator is not allowed to publish information on these investigations.

With the initiation of the inspection by the specialized prosecutor's office with the intervention of SANS for certain actions, the scope of the inspection is extended to the level of seeking criminal liability. The intervention of SANS also means the possibility for the use of specialized funds, in addition to the requirement of data from the Ministry of Energy, BEH, the Energy Exchange and other institutions. It is very likely that the prosecution will also request data from the regulator.