Energy Ministry Blames GERB Govt for Debts of Bulgarian Power Co

Deputy Economy and Energy Minister Ivan Ayolov has suggested that center-right party GERB should be held accountable for the record-high debts of the National Electric Company,NEK.

Ayolov's statement came in response to Monday's visit of Delyan Dobrev, Economy and Energy Minister during the term in office of the previous GERB government, to the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy and Energy in Sofia to request official information about the debts of NEK.

Responding to the request of GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria), the Ministry of Economy and Energy came up with a media statement informing that the debts of NEK increased by BGN 605 M in the period 2009 – June 2013, without taking into account an additional sum of around BGN 400 M owed to BNP Paribas under a loan with a maturity date in end-May 2013.

According to the media statement, the debts of NEK amounted to BGN 2.238 B by December 31, 2011, growing by 12.3% to BGN 2.552 B by December 31, 2012.

The debts of NEK stood at BGN 1.897 B by June 30, 2013, accounting for 75% of the total annual debts of NEK by December 31, 2012, signaling a lack of financial resources to cover the contracts signed by NEK with a range of counterparties.

According to Bulgaria's Ministry of Economy and Energy, NEK lacked a mechanism for determining the order of priority and the amount of payments under obligations arising from the different contracts.

According to the media statement, the debts of NEK registered an approximately 4-fold decrease compared to the level in June 2013. NEK is said to be experiencing difficulties mainly due to the lack of payments from power distributors, with their obligations amounting to nearly BGN 350 M by April...