February 1 (BTA) - The National Assembly Energy Committee on Tuesday drew lots to dismiss two members of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC).

Three EWRC members participated in the draw - Alexander Yordanov, Vladko Vladimirov and Georgi Zlatev, and the draw determined Georgi Zlatev and Vladko Vladimirov as the ones to leave their posts.

The dismissals came in response to a decision of the National Assembly to reduce the number of EWRC members from nine to five. On January 26, the National Assembly Energy Committee approved on second reading revisions to the Energy Act reducing EWRC's members.

Under the same revisions, the number of EWRC members of the Energy Panel will be cut from four to two, and the requirement that the regulator should have one member with legal experience and one member with economic experience will be dropped.

As a result, the EWRC's plenary would consist of five members: a chairperson, two members with experience in the energy sector and two with experience in water-supply and sewerage services. The bill broadens the legal definitions of eligible experience, adding experience in EU bodies and such in finance, accounting, trade in financial instruments, among others.

At its meeting, the National Assembly Energy Committee rejected with seven votes in favour, none against, and 12 abstentions a draft decision to introduce a full compensation mechanism for non-household consumers on the electricity market. 

The request for compensation was submitted by GERB-UDF. They proposed that the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Finance set up a mechanism to compensate non-household end consumers with up to 100 per cent of the difference between the estimated market price, set on July 1, 2021 by EWRC, and the average monthly price on the day-ahead market of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX).

The rejected request concerned non-household end consumers, such as municipalities, municipal enterprises, companies, kindergartens, nursing homes and social houses, places of worship, hospitals, universities and schools, museums, libraries, theatres, among others.

Source: Sofia