Bulgarian regulator fines two firms for power trading rules breach

The two companies were each fined slightly over 1.05 million levs for breaches committed in January and June 2020 in transactions found to have manipulated the market, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission said in a statement published on its website.

The companies may appeal the decision to the Sofia administrative court within 14 days, according to the statement.

This is the third time that the utilities regulator has sanctioned energy companies operating locally for manipulating the Bulgarian wholesale electricity trading market.

In March, the EWRC levied a fine of 165,238 levs on local company Energy Supply, which was also found to have traded in contravention of the EU Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT).

Prior to that, in late 2022, the regulator imposed an overall fine of 1.25 million levs on six Bulgarian power companies, including the National Electricity Company (NEK).

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)