2024-07-27 21:50:32
Finally – the state pays the electricity to the business if the price is over BGN 180
The halted deliveries of coal to the miners doom the already debt-ridden Mini Maritsa East to an additional loss of over BGN 200 million this year.
This became clear on Friday during the hearing of Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov in the parliament. He was summoned at the request of “Vazrazhdane” to inform the deputies about the current financial situation of the company.
The mines ended 2023 with a loss of BGN 137 million, and from the beginning of 2024 to May accumulated another BGN 100 million. Against this background, the forecasts are that by the end of the year the amount will double to 200 million BGN.
The reasons for the deteriorating financial situation came from the stopped coal deliveries to the “Contour Global” TPP. After February, raw materials were supplied to only three power plants from the Mariska Basin – the state-owned “Maritsa-East 2”, “AES Maritsa-East 1” and “Brickel”. Until July 15, they were
sold coal for BGN 114 million at 217 mln. last year year for the same period.
Malinov pointed out a trend of a significant decrease in yield and a 45% drop in revenue. Because of this, the plans for this year have been reduced from 17.4 million to 11.6 million tons.
The mines could no longer pay their debts – they had accrued BGN 57.6 million, and according to already concluded contracts they exceed BGN 44 million, of which BGN 3.1 million is for a concession fee to the Ministry of Energy. Public procurements for BGN 79 million have also been cancelled, and the company’s accounts had only BGN 7 million as of mid-July, Malinov also pointed out.
Investments in equipment were also stopped. In addition, no new employees are appointed in the mines, and those entitled to a pension are dismissed. The two-shift mode of operation has also been changed, and at times of peak electricity prices, the mines stop working.
However, Malinov assured that there are no outstanding salaries for all 6,556 employees, and no obligations to the budget, except for the concession fee. BGN 150 million will also be provided by BEH and commercial banks. Of these, 100 million is a credit line from the energy holding, 50 million is a loan on which BEH is a co-debtor.
A notification from the EC was still awaited in connection with the decision of the Parliament from April to allocate BGN 250 million per year to the company. The deadline was between 6 and 8 months, the request was sent back in April. The funds amount to a total of BGN 1 billion until 2028 and are money specifically intended for the recultivation of land on the territory of the mines and cannot be used for anything else, the minister warned. First, however, the EC must say whether this constitutes permitted state aid, and Malinov admitted that it would be difficult for Bulgaria to unite Brussels in this.
The minister also admitted that there were no investment proposals for RES projects. However, there was a project for
solar park, which one provides current for the mines
so that they can reduce their costs. For this purpose, grant funding was needed.
The complex is one of the big consumers of electricity, and this power will help it reduce its costs, commented Malinov.
After the minister’s hearing, the deputies finally accepted the compensations for businesses at high electricity prices on the exchange. Thus, the state will pay aid if the quotations exceed BGN 180 per megawatt hour on the free market. “Continuing the change” proposed to create a similar mechanism for household consumers in energy poverty, but their proposal was not accepted.