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From Bulgaria
12.08.2010 14:42
© FUTUR/E/MOTION
Today the management of CEZ Bulgaria presented accents from the company’s investment program and some views about the development of the power market in Bulgaria. According to Ales Damm, chief operational officer of the company, the five years that CEZ spent in Bulgaria are not a short period of time. During this term we had both successes and challenges, Damm added. The chief achievement reported by the manager for this period of time was the improvement of quality of services and one of the main challenges – the introduction and later the removal of 3-month metering. The metering innovation was a step in the right direction, Damm added, and we should make our conclusions related to it.
In addition to the needed investments for keeping the good shape of the grid, we also intend to invest in the future in Smart Grid and electric vehicles in Bulgaria, Damm said. This is a direction in which CEZ in the Czech Republic has also chosen in order to comply with the EU targets for energy efficiency, renewable energy integration and promotion of electric vehicles and Smart Grid. The company’s initiative FUTUR/E/MOTION has the goal to keep our leading position in Central and Eastern Europe, stressed Damm. In Bulgaria we also have a micro-grid project with the Bulgarian Academy of Science, he added. Until now we have not invested much in this direction as we had a lot of fundamental problems related to our investment costs and their recognition by the Bulgarian regulatory commission, he said.
Atanas Dandarov, manager in CEZ Bulgaria, added that during the 5 years of the company’s presence in the country a significant achievement is the reduction of losses from 20% to 15%, thanks to the investments and optimization of the grid. The losses percentage that is recognized by the regulator can be both a punishment and an incentive, Dandarov added. He explained that during the last two years CEZ Bulgaria applied for annual investments amounting 90 million BGN (about 45 million EUR) and each year the regulator recognized only 70 million BGN (about 35 million EUR). This is why now we have to apply for 130 million BGN (about 65 million EUR) this year as the needs for investment are increasing each year because of the regulatory limits. Dandarov added that if the regulatory body approves higher investment costs now, this could diminish a lot of expenses in the long term. Radoslav Dimitrov, manager of customer care in the company, added that the regulatory frame should not allow cross subsidies for generation, transmission and distribution. He added that the recently introduced by the company SAP IS-U billing system is one of their most successful projects. Now we intend to offer electronic invoices to our clients, Damm added, saying that this is a requirement from the side of the customers which will benefit both sides. Until the end of this year a pilot project will be implemented and after that electronic invoices would be available to CEZ clients.
Ales Damm also commented on the company’s statement related to the regulatory protocols of the audit which was conducted by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (DKEVR). According to Damm, if DKEVR takes into account the statement of the company, this could lead to some changes in the audit reports as well.
The new chief financial officer of CEZ Bulgaria Marcel Matosinka and the Director of Communications Maria Doychinova were also present at the press event.
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