site.btaParliament Upholds President Radev's Veto on Energy Act

The parliamentary Committee on Energy upheld President Rumen Radev's veto on the amendments to the Energy Act on Wednesday with 12 votes in favour, 1 against, and 8 abstentions. The Committee Chair Delian Dobrev of GERB-UDF said that there can be no provisions of the law that deviate from the EU regulation.

The MPs on the Committee agreed to drop the controversial paragraph 24. The changes to the Energy Act will be voted on again in plenary and the legislation can enter into force without the paragraph challenged by Radev.

Earlier Wednesday, President Radev signed a decree returning for further discussion the Act to Amend and Supplement the Energy Act, adopted on January 12, 2023.

According to the reasons for the veto, the amendments, which stipulate that by the end of 2023 the financial settlement prepared by the electricity system operator should be carried out at a time interval of one hour, do not guarantee compliance with the requirements of European Union law and hinder the socio-economic benefits in Bulgaria.

As of  October 1, 2022, the electricity transmission system operator and the exchange operator in Bulgaria have introduced a 15-minute period for the settlement of imbalances and 15-minute products for intraday market trading.