Bulgarian Energy Holding

Trade unions of mine workers have warned they are ready to organize a strike over the lack of funding to ensure the normal functioning of the state-owned Maritsa Iztok Mines, according to Vladimir Topalov, Chair of the miners' federation at the Podkrepa Labor Confederation.

The financial performance of 152 companies with a state-owned stake of over 50% deteriorated substantially in 2014 as compared to 2013, according to Bulgarian economic policy think-tank Institute for Market Economics (IME).

The pre-tax profit of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) plummeted by 36.6% on an annual basis in 2014, according to a financial report of the company.

According to the report, as cited by econ.bg, state-owned BEH registered profit before tax of BGN 286 M in 2014, compared to a rate of nearly BGN 415 M in 2013.

Bulgaria's National Electric Company (NEK) has signed agreements with US-owned thermal power plants AES Maritza East 1 and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP under which it will pay BGN 1 B less to the TPPs over the next 10 years.

State-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) has been charged with breaching EU anti-trust rules, the European Commission said on Monday.

In a statement to the media it accused the BEH of barring competitors' access to elements of Bulgaria's gas infrastructure.

The deficit at Bulgaria's National Electric Company (NEK) stands at BGN 3.3 B, while the current deficit for 2014 amounts to BGN 600 M, according to Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

Petkova visited Sunday the Maritsa Iztok Mines (Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD), Bulgaria's largest coal mining company.

Westinghouse Electric Company said on Monday it is donating BGN 17,000 (EUR 8,500) for the reconstruction of a kindergarten in the Bulgarian town of Mizia hit by flash floods last summer.

By end-March, a working group including representatives of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, and the Energy Ministry, is to come up with a stance on the project for a 7th unit of the N-plant.

Jacquelin Cohen, Executive Director of BEH, announced Thursday that the working group had to present its conclusion on the funding of the project too.

Heating utility Toplofikatsiya Sofia has run up debts of BGN 627 M in unpaid gas bills.

The major portion of the debt, BGN 500 M, is to be paid to the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), while the remaining sum of BGN 127 M is owed to state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz.

The Maritsa Iztok Mines (Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD), Bulgaria's largest coal mining company, produced over 27 500 000 tonnes of coal in 2014, up by 428 000 tonnes from the business plan for the year.

The company's profit for the reporting period is expected to reach around BGN 5 M, according to a media statement of the Maritsa Iztok Mines, as cited by the BGNES news agency.