Electricity market

Bulgaria joins the common European electricity market, the Electricity System Operator announced. Together with Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia, Bulgaria will now be involved in unifying the electricity markets.

So far, there were 14 European countries involved in the union.

The first deliveries are planned for November 20 this year.

Public Power Corporation (PPC) has just launched its double-play offerings to domestic and professional customers, penetrating the natural gas market for their first time.

The work of the energy market in Bulgaria and the problems with trade in industrial electricity will be examined today by the parliamentary committee.

The discussion comes amid lobbying by business for lobbying and manipulation in the "Day ahead" segment.

Next Tuesday's conference call between Energy Ministry officials and the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition (DGComp) will determine the fate of the fifth plant of Public Power Corporation at Ptolemaida, in Western Macedonia.

The electricity market is being led to financial asphyxiation as - besides Public Power Corporation's liquidity problems spreading like a virus - the government's failure to implement the structural measures needed for its full liberalization will result in expected revenue losses of 80 million euros for independent producers.

Leading figures in the electricity market paint a bleak picture of the industry, sounding the alarm about the sustainability of Public Power Corporation and the future of the sector.

PPC has failed to collect debts in excess of 2.5 billion euros from unpaid electricity bills, while its rates do not reflect production costs, the market professionals observe.

Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Albania have signed a memorandum on integrating their electricity markets and developing joint electricity trading in Southeast Europe, the state-run Electricity System Operator announced on Friday.

The European Energy Exchange (EEX) expects to expand power trading in Serbia, Bulgaria and Slovenia this year, having raised power futures volumes in 2018 across Europe by 19 percent, Chief Executive Peter Reitz said, reports Reuters. 

Power rate hikes are now on their way up due to an initiative by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE), as Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis has again rejected the proposal to that effect by Public Power Corporation.

 Businesses and trade unions have requested a meeting with the prime minister over the high electricity prices on the energy exchange. In a letter, the national employers' organisations and trade unions insist on outlining, together with state institutions, "urgent measures with regard to the unjustified and speculative rise of electricity prices on th