Everything began on 1 August that saw the resolution of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) for the introduction of a special obligation-to-society charge that raised the electricity price for corporates. The fact that owing to this charge the revenues of the debt-plagued National Electric Company (NEC) rose 2.5-fold is of no great interest to the business, so it held a protest demanding the old, pre-August 1 power rates back.

The four employer organizations in Bulgaria complained to the European Commission over irregular state support to NEC for buying electric energy from two private companies – the American AES Maritza East 1 and Contour Global Maritza East 3. The complaint reads that the above expounded problems have been confirmed by Bulgarian state authorities: the Commission for the Protection of Competition and the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission. Employers also addressed all parliamentary groups in the 43^rd National Assembly demanding urgent talks over problems in the sector of energy. Otherwise they threatened with protests on 30 September.

And the miracle has happened! This week saw a series of talks of the business with the government (including PM Boyko Borissov) and with law-makers (from all parliamentary groups). During talks the employers scored a few benefits, though in the form of commitment for action in the future. An agreement has been reached over the roadmap for reform of energy. The business insists that it should become an urgent project driven by a working group led by Deputy PM Tomislav Donchev. This group should draft measures for reforms in the energy sector and fix implementation deadlines. Further changes include the appointment of employers in the boards of state energy companies where they are going to work without pay. The ideas were accepted for a moratorium on preferences for electricity purchase and sale, cancelation of purchase contracts signed with companies generating electricity at preferential rates, in case these run into violations, as well as creation of a public register of all preferential electricity producers.

The business though drew a blank on a single point: the demanded resignation of EWRChead Ivan Ivanov. He is known as a leading expert and a very honest person never yielding to lobbyist pressure. This comes as a small guarantee that after this energy hug between the business and politics there still be somebody to watch out for possible conflicts of interest. And indeed, energy is a sector rife with warring interests.

English Daniela Konstantinova