Bulgaria wins arbitration case filed by energy group CEZ – Finance Ministry
Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry said late on January 30 that the country has won the arbitration case filed by Czech energy group CEZ at the World Bank’s arbitration institution Icsid.
CEZ filed the claim in 2016, saying at the time that the actions of Bulgarian authorities were damaging the operations of CEZ subsidiaries and “causing the long-term critical situation on the local energy market that is not improving”.
The ministry said that Icsid rejected CEZ’ claim in full and denied the damages sought by the Czech investor, which stood at 967 million euro, plus interest.
This is the third and final arbitration case won by Bulgaria stemming from complaints filed by energy distribution companies, the Finance Ministry said. Bulgaria previously won the cases tabled by Austria’s EVN and Czech Energo-Pro.
The ministry said in a statement that the total amount of damages sought by the three companies was about two billion euro. More significantly, a loss in any of the three cases would have led to changes in the electricity price calculation formula and a significant price increase, the ministry said.
CEZ entered the Bulgarian market in 2004, when it paid 281.5 million euro for three regional power distribution companies in western Bulgaria, which it later merged.
The dispute over investment and the allegations of unfavourable regulatory environment led CEZ to exit the Bulgarian market in July 2021, when it sold all Bulgarian assets to Elektrohold, a subsidiary of Bulgarian insurance and asset management group Eurohold Holding.
(Photo: Petr Kovar/freeimages.com)
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