Temenuzhka Petkova

Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova foresees no increase in the price of electricity at least until the summer.

The price will remain at the level determined by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) until the next planned review of prices in the summer.

Bulgaria has presented to a potential Chinese investor the opportunities for possible cooperation in the construction of a new unit at Kozloduy nuclear power plant, the Energy Ministry in Sofia said on Tuesday.

"A delegation from a Chinese corporation operating nuclear plants visited Kozloduy nuclear power plant," the Energy Ministry said in a statement.

A trial launch of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) is expected to take place on Friday.

The aim of the exchange is to ensure that electricity will be sold and purchased at prices determined by the market.

Bulgaria's state energy holding BEH and Greek-Italian joint venture ISI Poseidon signed on Dec. 10 a key investment deal to build a new pipeline linking Bulgaria and Greece's gas networks, officials said.

Construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) is to begin next October, and the link is to become operational by mid-2018, officials from the two countries confirmed on Thursday.

Bulgaria's government on Thursday announced the gas hub Bulgaria was intending to build near Varna, at the Black Sea, would bear the name "Balkan".

A cabinet statement issued Thursday coincides with a meeting of Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director Internal Energy Market at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy.

Bulgaria and Greece's Energy Ministers are to sign on Thursday the investment agreement to build a gas interconnector that will help bring supplies from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria and further north.

The project has been in limbo for months after the signing, scheduled for July, was postponed, with Athens citing obstacles due to the political situation in the summer.

Nine banks have confirmed interest in lending up to EUR 650 BGN to the state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) company, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has said.

The energy group is seeking the money to enable its indebted subsidiary National Electricity Company (NEK) to repay debt owed to the local units of U.S.-based AES Corp. and ContourGlobal.

"For too long Bulgaria and other countries of the region have been concentrating on large scale pipeline projects such as South Stream and have left behind the development of important regional infrastructure, notably interconnections with neighbouring countries," Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director Internal Energy Market at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy

The forthcoming liberalization of the energy market in Bulgaria is likely to lead to an increase in the prices of the electricity in the country.

This was stated by Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Sunday.