Units 5 and six of Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant in the Danubian town of Kozloduy should be decommissioned by 2017-2019 when their 30-year lifetime expires. The move will leave the country short of 2,000 MW of power capacity, state-run power utility NEK estimated. Speaking at a thermal energy conference hosted by the Bulgarian Energy Forum, NEK’s forecasting, development and research chief Stefan Kanchovski said the government should consider a possible extension of the two reactors’ lifetimes. A plan drawn up by the utility calls for replacing them by 2,000 MW capacity at Bulgaria’s second nuclear power facility planned for construction in Belene or by units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy plant. The coal-fired power plants Bobov Dol, Maritsa 3 and Brikel and Varna should go offline by 2015 unless investments are made to overhaul them to comply with environmental standards. Martin Dimitrov, chairman of Bulgaria’s economy, energy and tourism parliamentary committee, proposed that Bulgaria request transition period to implement the new directive on power plant emissions cuts being discussed by the European Parliament. He explained that by 2016, AES’ Maritsa-East 1 will be the nation’s sole power station to meet the dust and carbon dioxide requirements laid out in the new directive.
Source: Dnevnik (17.02.2010)

Sofia City Court has levied new distraint on assets owned by Bulgarian energy tycoon Hristo Kovachki. The Court acted upon a suit filed by the Bulgarian Parliament Commission for seizing illegally acquired property which demanded a distraint on BGN 13 mln worth of assets owned by Hristo Kovachki. The tycoon is currently being charged with large-scale tax evasion. The total value of Kovachki's assets with court-ordered distraints amounts to BGN 156 mln, after in September 2009, the Court froze BGN 143 mln in assets of Kovachki, while he is on trial. The distraint refers to Kovachki's assets of his company LM Impex in a number of companies including the chemical plant Chimko, the Maritza East 3 thermal power plant, the Municipal Insurance Company Sofia, and the heating utilities in Pleven, Burgas, and Vratsa, among others.
Source: Standart (17.02.2010)

Italian power company Enel said its Bulgarian thermal power plant Maritsa East 3 has ignited investment interest. Enel CEO Fulvio Conti explained this is the company’s sole Bulgarian assets and it has failed to integrate it into its structure. In Bulgaria, Enel has three companies, of which three were involved with the upgrade of the thermal power facility. Enel Green Power Bulgaria operates 13 wind power generators scattered along the Black Sea coast near Shabla and Kamen Bryag. In 2009, Enel was crowned Investor of the Year thanks to the EUR 700 million overhaul of Maritsa East 3. A total of EUR 160 million of the amount was spent on green initiatives. Sources close to the Italian company claim it wants to exit the investment due to its ballooning debt. In 2009, the concern ran up debt of EUR 51 billion against EUR 52.8 billion a year earlier.
Source: Dnevnik (19.03.2010)

EC turns down Bulgarian TPPs The European Commission turned down Bulgaria’s demand for a 2-year extension of the deadline for the introduction of new thermal power plant (TPP) environment standards. This means that five problematic TPP will have to comply with the new regulations or will be shut down. Bulgaria’s argument for the demanded delay was the economic crisis, which brought obstacles in front of the planned investments in new environment-friendly upgrades. By closing the TPPs Bulgaria’s South – Western and South – Eastern regions may face power supply and heating cut offs, the country’s motives stated further. According to the European Commission, current economic problems are of no short-term nature and existed at the time of Bulgaria’s EU accession. This is why the country’s arguments are not subject to Article 36 of the Accession Agreement and are qualified by the Commission as unacceptable.
Source: Trud (10.05.2010)

The state will continue negotiations with the European Commission and European Parliament to extend the exploitation of five power stations, including Brikel controlled by companies of Hristo Kovachki. This was announced by the Deputy Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva after in the beginning of the month Bulgaria received a denial for the extend by two years of TPP-Maritsa 3 JSC in Dimitrovgrad, Brikel in Galabovo, TPP Bobov Dol, TPP Republika in Pernik and TPP Sliven. Unlike the other four plants, Brikel has been already exceeding the limit for its exploitation, and currently works over the permitted.
Source: Dnevnik (18.05.2010)

Enel Gives up Belene NPP Construction Italy's largest energy company Enel has given up the construction of Belene NPP. In a media statement Enelconfirmsinformation ithas previously shown interest in the Belene project but "is no longer interested." The company points out that it has started a plan to withdraw from Bulgaria by selling its 73% stake in the Enel Maritza East 3 thermal plant, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant with a capacity of 908 megawatts. Enel says it plans to build four nuclear power stations in Italy together with France's EDF as part of Italy's efforts to revive nuclear energy.
Source: Standart (26.05.2010)

The General Meeting of the shareholders of TPP-Maritsa 3, Bourse code 6TM, which was held on June 15 2010, adopted the annual financial report for 2009. The company reported a loss to the amount of BGN 10 047 000.
Source: Capital market (17.06.2010)

Enel still negotiating Maritsa East 3 exit Enel still negotiating Maritsa East 3 exit Italian electricity operator Enel dismissed claims it has reached an agreement for the sale of Bulgaria’s coal-fired power plant Maritsa East 3 to Russia’s INTER RAO. Bulgarian daily reported the official announcement of the deal is expected within two weeks with a price tag of EUR 800 million. Enel said in a statement the sale of the facility is still ongoing and the company has not made a decision yet. In April, the two companies signed a memorandum of cooperation in nuclear energy, energy supply and power plant reconstruction. Enel holds a 73% stake in Maritsa East 3, with the balance of 27% held by Bulgaria’s state-run power utility NEK. In 2004, the Italian company acquired the majority stake in the facility in exchange for a repair estimated by the Ministry of Economy and EUR 803 million.
Source: Dnevnik (12.07.2010)

Five TPPs to stop operating and to cancel their contracts with the buyers It is possible that five Thermoelectric Power Plants (TPPs) in the country will stop generating electricity as of 2015, since their complex permits would be annulled. According to Deputy Minister of Economy Energy and Tourism, Marii Kosev, the situation will lead to cancellation of privatization contracts if the plant owners do not start immediately investing in purifying utilities. The exclusion of these facilities from the electricity grid can create problems with respect to the energy security of the country. The plants in question are the TPP in the town of Bobov dol, Brikel TPP, Maritsa 3 TPP in the town of Dimitrovgrad, Sliven DHC (District Heating Company) and three blocks of TPP Varna. They are of a total capacity of 1765 MW. The businessman Hristo Kovachki, firms close to him and the Czech CEZ company, which holds the TPP Varna own the compaties. Kosev explained that he had already held meetings with the companies’ owners, where he had warned them that they had toimmediately invest in the purifying facilities. He said that it was imperative for the plants to meet the EU environmental requirements, to receive new complex permits, so that they could continue to operate further. The situation is most severe now in Brikel TPP which, according to the mining trade unions has to stop operation as of September 1. Officials from the plant, owned by Hristo Kovachki, have already submitted their plan for the construction of a desulphurisation facility. Similar intentions have declared Sliven DHC and Bobov Dol TPP, also owned by companies close to Kovachki. The businessman is owner of the TPP in Dimitrovgrad as well. Czech CEZ company is the investor in the Varna TPP. Member of the Boart of Directors of CEZ Trading Bulgaria, Alesh Damm said that negotiations on the extension of the service life of the first three blocks of Varna TPP were underway.
Source: Class (19.08.2010)

Bulgaria might be fined ˆ50,000 per day because of five TPPs "Bulgaria could be penalised witha daily fine of ˆ50,000 if Brussels launches criminal proceedings against our country," said yesterday Evdokia Maneva, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water at a roundtable organised by the Confederation of Labour 'Podkrepa'. In her words, the penalty could be imposed on Bulgaria, if large combustion facilities continue to operate, without complying with the Environmental Standards of the European Community. Maneva added that now the pre-trial part of the proceedings was coming to an end and a new pending criminal procedure against our country was to be initiated at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It refers to the violation of the norms of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The Ministry of Environment also expects another two criminal proceedings to be instigated for exceeding the permissible emissions of harmful substances from TPPs into the atmosphere as well as on the threshold of airborne dust particles. EU sanctions are such that it is better for the EU member state to meet the Brussels' requirements, instead of paying fines, Maneva claims. She was adamant that the TPP Brikel must be decommissioned by the end of October. No funds have been invested in it so far for compliance with the environmental norms. The plant is owned by companies close to the businessman Hristo Kovachki. Among the facilities that might be decommissioned are Bobov Dol TPP, Sliven TPP , TPP Maritsa 3 in Dimitrovgrad and Varna TPP. Meetings were already held with representatives of all companies and schedules were drawn up on which they must comply their output with the environmental norms, said Maneva. Another polluting thermal facility is TPP Pernik, but its blocks have already been decommissioned, explained officials from the Ministry.
Source: Class (28.09.2010)

The head of Geotechmin began at the mine, now he manages half a billion "What are these millions? They are not for eating, not for drinking, you cannot take them home. Money is invested in equipment - tangible fixed assets for the company. If they do not work, they bear losses." This was the comment of workers in Geotechmin about the fact that their boss was the richest man in Bulgaria. Workers in the Ellatzite mine near Mirkovo are shocked that Tsolo Vutov manages assets for BGN 438.2 million. Because he does not flaunt with super luxurious jeeps or real estates for millions. In stead of buying a private plane, he invests in equipment. The latest acquisition is the company's breaker for BGN 40 mln Tsolo Vutov is not among the most frequently invoked names of Bulgarian business. He does not like to be under the spotlight. Yesterday he once again did not indulge in media appearances. "I can not find time now. I am currently in a board meeting, at the end of the year we adopt the annual reports and balance sheets of the companies. Please understand that I have work to do. Let's talk after the New Year who is rich and who is the richest," Tsolo Vutov commented in his own style. He is a typical example of a man who rose from the lowlands to the owner of a large industrial holding company. He starts in the Elatsite mine as markshayder. This is the man who traces the new ore veins and shows where galleries are to be dug. For a short time he rose to chief markshayder and deputy chief of the mines. Then he briefly worked in Research Institute Niproruda. Meanwhile Vutov acquired a second higher qualification degree in the Premier International School of Marketing and Management, Bulgarian-French Centre Markom. In 1990, together with the late Prof. Velichko Stoyanov, he established Geotechmin. In 2000, he privatized it. The timing is strategic, because the global prices of copper rose then. Ore output varies between 8 and 10 million tonnes. The peak was 13 million, from which copper, gold and silver are derived. In 2008 sales reached BGN 366 million. Geotechmin acquired Transmineral for extraction of face stones, Helix - for studies of minerals and Explosive Progress, which deals with drilling and blasting at sites. In 2005, the company focused on specialized construction - high, hydro, building transport and energy infrastructure. This allowed Geotechmin to set eyes on larger contracts and to draw public money. The company builds metro subway 9 - Vasil Levski Stadium, two cascades of HPP Middle Iskar-Svrazhen and Lakatnik, treatment plants of Maritsa East 3 TPP. In the last 2-3 years it builds the foundations for a wind farm near Kamen Bryag and Shabla. Recently Tsolo Vutov focused on maintaining the infrastructure in various cities and road construction. Among them are Road Maintenance and Roads and Structures-Sofia, the Sofia-based Street Lighting and the company that maintains the technical condition of trams, trolleys and buses in the capital - Transremontstroy. He owns the companies that maintain the infrastructure in Lom and Berkovitsa. Unlike the new rich who show off with luxury cars, helicopters and airplanes, Tsolo Vutov lives in a non-intrusive three-storey house near the Cinema Center. His sons work alongside him. Vladimir heads the construction company, and Ivan - the transport business.
Source: Standart (09.12.2010)