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Energy and Mineral Resources Committee

Mission

The mission of the Energy and Mineral Resources Committee is to exert a positive impact on the Bulgarian energy system and to further demonstrate the importance of the mineral resources. It will work to develop their potential both locally and Europe wide by promoting the dialogue and cooperation between the government and the business. Its goal is to improve the energy regulatory environment and to create more sustainable investment climate in the country.

In particular, in the mining sector, the committee will work more closely with experts to allow legislative incentives that would relieve the business from lengthy permitting regimes and create an optimized administrative environment for business is also among the top priorities.

Leadership

Prof. Iliya Garkov, PhD, Vice President, Dundee Precious Metals, and CEO, Dundee Precious Metals Bulgaria – Co-Chair
Dimitar Enchev, Co-Founder and CEO Europe, CWP Global – Co-Chair

2023 – 2024

Prof. Iliya Garkov, PhD, Vice President, Dundee Precious Metals, and CEO, Dundee Precious Metals Bulgaria – Co-Chair
Svetoslav Ivanov, CEO, Overgas Inc. AD

2021 – 2023

Prof. Iliya Garkov, PhD, Vice President, Dundee Precious Metals, and CEO, Dundee Precious Metals Bulgaria – Co-Chair
Krassimir Nenov, Executive Director, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 – Co-Chair

2018 – 2021

Mr. Olivier Marquette, President, AES Bulgaria and Head of Business Development, EurAsia SBU 
Mr. Alex Nestor, AmCham Individual Member

Priorities

To identify and tackle sector specific key issues;

To help the advancement of the reform and improvement of the energy legislation;

To create channels for direct dialogue with decision makers to voice industry concerns and to share energy innovative ideas;

To secure regular updates on developments in the committee to the membership;

Collaboration with AmCham Leadership, and other committees on common themes (ex. Rule of Law and Legislative Reform, Healthcare, Human Capital and Education, Digital, Research, Innovation and Start-ups, etc. Committees);

Best practice sharing in the full spectrum of the energy sector;

To be active participant in the national and potentially international discussions on the The European Green Deal and ESG reporting;

To broaden the interdisciplinary networking with various stakeholders.

Committee Activities

June 22nd, 2022
Committee Meeting with key-note speakers

This committee had a solid track of activities in 2021. It had three internal meetings discussing various strategic legislative changes, incl. Energy Act Amendments, and Mineral Resources Act Amendments. Also, the committee got acquainted with the development of Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad Project (the first mine in Bulgaria opened in the past 40 years). We were glad to have prominent speakers such as Attn. Nikolay Voynov, Penkov, Markov & Partners, Irena Tsakova, Dundee Precious Metals, and others.

The opportunities that the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) and its hosting in Bulgaria in 2021 could provide for networking and project development were presented by experts from the Ministry of Energy led by Veneta Tzvetkova, Director, Energy Projects and International Cooperation Directorate. The messages the Energy Panel (part of the 3SI Business Forum) were shared by its moderator Kostadin Sirleshtov, CMS Managing Partner.

In 2021, the EMR Committee was led by Olivier Marquette, AES Bulgaria and Alex Nestor, an individual member. In order to meet the members’ expectations, the EU Green Deal Working Group was established within the committee. It was led by Krassimir Nenov, Executive Director, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3, and Hon. Prof. Eng. Iliya Garkov, Ph.D., General Manager, Dundee Precious Metals Bulgaria.

Their collaboration peaked at the “EU Green Deal Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges” Conference, held on June 30. It discussed the uncertainty the heavy industry, energy, and mining have in the eve of decarbonization goals implementation and the lack of a national strategy. The event resulted in a position paper that was sent to the authorities and media.

This conference along with the Healthcare Report inspiration, paved the way for starting a study on the potential scenarios for Bulgaria’s power sector decarbonization. AmCham Bulgaria hired a prominent consultant – Compass Lexecon (FTI) – whose experts, together with members, produced the “Power Sector Decarbonization Study” in the period September 2021 – January 2022), The study was initially presented before members on December 3, 2021.

December 16, 2020
Position on Energy Law Amendments, dated Dec. 16, 2020
The Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria raises its concerns with regard the proposed changes of the Energy Law, introduced by the honorable Member of the Parliament Mr. Ramadan Atalay on December 16th, 2020. It was sent to the Parliament of Bulgaria, to the Energy Commission Chair Mr. Valentin Nikolov on January 15th, 2021. Download the full position in English.

December 10, 2022
LNG in Bulgaria in 2020 and Beyond

On December 10th 2020, AmCham Bulgaria hosted an expert roundtable titled “LNG in Bulgaria 2020 and Beyond: New Opportunities for Diversification, Security and Trade”, organized jointly with Bulgartransgaz and the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. Looking forward to a large-scale event on diversification in 2021.

September 24, 2022
Intelligent Utilities webinar

Guests of the webinar enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the next generation of service-based business models. These models are powered by insights from data collected from smart home devices, meters, distributed energy sources, weather maps, energy exchanges, and consumer behavior. SAP guest speakers Miquel Carbo and Fritz Schwarzlaender presented how SAP shapes the ENR sector by providing innovations and best practices for the intelligent Utilities enterprises. 

May 28, 2020
The Energy Committees of AmCham and AHK held a joint webinar with guest speakers from the Energy Management Institute, Wolf Theiss Sofia, and Deloitte Legal.

  • Slavcho Neykov, Chair of the Management Board of Energy Management Institute (EMI). Presentation: “Energy Policy Realities after COVID”
  • Ivanka Dilovska, Member of the Management Board of EMI, delivered a presentation with a title “Functioning of the electricity free market. Price formation mechanism”
  • Radoslav Mikov, AHK Sub-Committee Energy Chair and Partner at Wolf Theiss Sofia. Presentation: “The European Clean Energy Package- Framework Outline and Challenges for the Bulgarian Market”.
  • Pavlin Stoyanoff, Managing Associate, Energy and Resources, Deloitte Legal. Presentation: “Bulgarian Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030”

September 4, 2019
Topic: “Discussion on proposed amendments to the Energy Act and their impact on the liberalization of the energy market and the renewable energy producers”

  • Ralitsa Tihova, Attorney-at-law, Penkov, Markov & Partners; “Discussion on a position paper of AmCham on the problems with the currently effective mechanism for achieving Bulgaria’s energy efficiency targets under the Energy Efficiency Act and the need for adjustments to that mechanism”
  • Alexander Chatalbashev, Partner, BOYANOV & Co.

June 18, 2019
On June 18th, 2019, the AmCham Energy and Mineral Resources Committee held a working meeting to discuss the role of the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange (BIEE) and its impact on the Bulgarian energy market, as well as the topic of the Liquified Natural Gas.

  • Konstantin Konstantinov, Executive Director, BIEE. Presentation: “Introduction to IBEX (Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange). It’s role and impact on the Bulgarian energy market”
  • Fred Smits van Oyen, Vice President for Origination and Marketing, Cheniere. Presentation: “Developing US LNG Exports – and the Benefits for the East Europe Region”
  • Asfaha Tesfai, Director of Origination, Sempra Energy. Presentation: “Developing US LNG Exports – and the Benefits for the East Europe Region”.

January 22, 2019
Topic: “Amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act”

  • Pavlin Stoyanoff, Managing Associate, Energy and Resources, Deloitte Legal; “Update on the migration of renewable energy producers and cogenerators on free market as of January 1st, 2019”
  • Martin Boyadzhiev, Regulatory and Commercial Manager, AES Bulgaria; “Litigation for the 20 % fee paid by wind and solar energy producers in the period 1.01.2014-09.08.2014”
  • Atanas Valov, Associated Partner and Ralitsa Tihova, Senior Associate in Energy and Litigation, Penkov, Markov and Partners

News from This Committee