The Minister of Energy is discussing the possibility of the battery technology company opening a production facility in our country

At the invitation of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb, which is one of the oldest in Europe, the Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov gave a lecture on "State intervention in markets in crisis conditions". The reason for the invitation is the actions of the Ministry of Energy, through which our country has dealt with the energy supply crisis. "As an expert coming from the private sector, I am fundamentally against state intervention in market mechanisms. However, one of the first steps I had to take as minister was a substantial intervention in the energy markets, not only at the national but also at the European level. There are cases when, as a result of external factors, the market cannot function normally, and then the intervention is imperative and justified," emphasized Hristov.

He gave specific recent examples of the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, the earthquake in Turkey and others. Hristov also told the students about the diversification of gas supplies and the expanded infrastructure that it requires, as well as about the different suppliers of fresh nuclear fuel for our plant in Kozloduy. According to him, there is no way to have energy security without an alternative in supplies. After the lecture, Hristov answered numerous questions from students and teachers in the field of energy.

Earlier, the Bulgarian minister met with his Croatian colleague Davor Filipovic, with whom they discussed joint actions to find a common European solution for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The two also commented on the development of geothermal energy, in which Croatia already has considerable experience. The ministers emphasized the good relations between the two institutions and discussed the possibilities for their expansion.

During his stay in Zagreb, Minister Hristov also visited the world-famous company Rimac. The high-tech company presented its latest developments in the field of energy storage and discussed the potential for opening production facilities in Bulgaria. Concrete steps were outlined to further explore this possibility, including a visit to Bulgaria in August.