Energo-Pro

Bulgaria's Energy Ministry and the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) will start emergency inspections of the three electricity distribution ventures due to the record-high consumption of electricity in the last two months.

The purpose is to guarantee that the bills of household consumers for December and January are real.

Bulgaria's power prices for households are going to rise by 2% on average in the second half of the year under a decision approved by the country's energy regulator, KEVR, on Monday.

Novinite has interviewed H.E. Pavel Vacek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bulgaria, on various bilateral issues, but mostly on issues in Bulgaria's energy sector and the repercussions they have on Czech companies.

Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced that irregularities have been identified at the energy distribution company (EDC) Energo-Pro, which operates in the northeast of the country.

Petkova said that this emerged from the inspections at the three EDCs that were ordered on Monday, after 67 000 customers of Energo-Pro had received double bills for the same period.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has warned against a repetition of the "2013 scenario" when his first government was toppled by mass protest following hike in electricity bills.

Dwindling resources to support the electricity supply network could quite possibly result in power cuts, EDCs operating in Bulgaria maintain.

EVN, CEZ and Energo-PRO, the three electricity distribution companies, believe the nearly 10-percent hike in electricity bills announced Wednesday was insufficient to make for the losses of grid operators, daily Standart reports.

Boyan Boev, Chair of Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), has informed about an upcoming revision of the license terms of power distributors.

Three power distributors operating in Bularia have demanded an increase in prices starting July 2014.

Czech-based CEZ and Energo-Pro have insisted that prices go up 13-14%, while Austrian EVN requested an 8% hike, BGNES news agency has reported, citing Bulgarian energy watchdog DKEVR's head Boyan Boev.

Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev informed that the National Electric Company (NEK) had not received payments from the power distributors by Tuesday.

Prices of electricity might go up if power distributors can prove their expenses have increased.