ContourGlobal

Bulgaria's energy regulator KEVR said on Wednesday that it hasn't discussed capping prices of electricity purchased by state-owned National Electricity Company NEK from two local thermal power plants owned by U.S. investors.

"We fully comply with the provisions laid down in the Energy Act," KEVR Chairman Ivan Ivanov told reporters, according to investor.bg.

US-based companies AES and ContourGlobal, which own two of Bulgaria's largest thermal-power plants, have submitted declarations that they are leaving one of the key employers' organizations in the country.

Both were, until now, members of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, or CEIBG (also increasingly known as KRIB).

The four nationally-represented employers' organizations in Bulgaria - BIA, BCCI, BICA and CEIB - have asked the government to suspend payments above market prices for electricity generated by AES Galabovo and ContourGlobal Maritza East 3 power plants.

Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has turned down a proposal by employers' organizations that potential investors should be sought to replace AES and ContourGlobal as shareholders at thermal power plants.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is likely to become the single company to make a binding offer th the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) as the energy structure is looking for a loan of EUR 650 M to pay off debts.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) has launched a procedure to pick a lender that would help it pay off part of its debts.

BEH, a structure managing state-owned assets in the energy sector, is now committed to make the payments under a deal with the AES and ContourGlobal thermal power plants which was reached in the spring.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) is now considering options to pay off debts to the AES and ContourGlobal thermal power plants, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has said.

Speaking to reporters, she added the BEH would launch a procedure to secure funding by the end of text week.

AES and ContourGlobal thermal power plants, alongside renewable energy sources, will remain the primary sources in the energy mix of Bulgaria, a recent document shows.

The lates pricing decision of energy watchdog KEVR shows that AES Martiza East 1 and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 sets theire share in Bulgaria's energy system at 20% and 25.2%, respectively.

US-based ContourGlobal on Thursday hailed the deal it had signed with the government in Sofia ahead of the planned change in the electricity purchase agreement for its Bulgarian power plant.

US-based ContourGlobal said on Friday any change in its long-term contract for electricity sales from its Bulgarian power plant Maritsa East 3 should safeguard the investments it has made.