Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov dismissed on February 27 the criticism that the country was more dependent on imported energy raw materials than the European Union.

Talking to an energy forum organized in Sofia by Kapital weekly, Dimitrov said that Bulgaria imported only 47.7 per cent of its energy resources, compared with 51.1 per cent in the EU.

Secure energy supplies were a cornerstone of the energy strategy, now being drafted by a ministry working group, which would replace the current one, adopted in 2001. Other pillars of the blueprint are sustainability and competitiveness of energy supplies, diversification of energy resources, measures related to mitigate impact on environment. All goals were in line with objectives put up forth the EU, Dimitrov said.

Energy stability is a precondition for political and military security, better quality of life and overall stability. Should Bulgaria become one giant disco because of sporadic power blackouts, civil unrest would follow swiftly, undermining political stability, Dimitrov said in his address to the forum, dubbed Energy Streams in Regional and European Terms.

Bulgaria’s new energy strategy should focus on upgrading existing and building new energy generation facilities to ensure the energy balance of the country, Dimitrov said, with self-sustainability as the topmost priority.

Although Bulgaria had a lot of excess capacity, particularly from thermal power plants, these had to be mothballed because their high level of greenhouse emissions. With stricter restrictions coming into force in 2012, that would become an even more important issue, and to counter the adverse effects, Bulgaria was considering the possibility of building power plants on the Danube, three in total of about 400-450 MW installed capacity each.

Participants in the forum’s panels also stressed the need to build an energy exchange, continue liberalisation of the market and acquiesce to the need to raise electricity prices.

Lubos Pavlas, CEZ regional manager for Bulgaria, said that electric power producers had to sell power at a price lower than its cost of production, an untenable situation. To solve the issue, Bulgaria should urgently deregulate its market, where 85 per cent of all electricity market sold at regulated prices.