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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.
Chairs:Mr. Krassimir Nenov, Executive Director, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 
Prof. Iliya Garkov, PhD, Vice President, Dundee Precious Metals, and CEO, Dundee Precious Metals Bulgaria
PrioritiesTo 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.
2021 ActivitiesTo be updated soon
Chairs
2018 – 2021		Mr. Olivier Marquette, President,  AES Bulgaria and Head of Business Development, EurAsia SBU 
Mr. Alex Nestor, AmCham Individual Member
2020 ActivitiesDecember 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.

May 28, 2020
On May 28th, 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.
1. Slavcho Neykov, Chair of the Management Board of EMI, delivered a presentation with title “Energy Policy Realities after COVID”
2. Ivanka Dilovksa, Member of the Management Board of EMI, delivered a presentation with a title “Functioning of the electricity free market. Price formation mechanism”
3. Radoslav Mikov, AHK Sub-Committee Energy Chair and Partner at Wolf Theiss Sofia, delivered a presentation with a title “The European Clean Energy Package- Framework Outline and Challenges for the Bulgarian Market”.
4. Pavlin Stoyanoff, Managing Associate, Energy and Resources, Deloitte Legal, delivered a presentation with topic “Bulgarian Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030”
2019 Activities September 4, 2019
The main topics of the event: “Discussion on proposed amendments to the Energy Act and their impact on the liberalization of the energy market and the renewable energy producers” – Speakers: 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” – Speaker: 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. Our guest speakers were Mr. Konstantin Konstantinov, Executive Director, BIEE, Mr. Fred Smits van Oyen, Vice President for Origination and Marketing, Cheniere, and Mr. Asfaha Tesfai, Director of Origination, Sempra Energy. Main topics of the event: “Introduction to IBEX (Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange). It’s role and impact on the Bulgarian energy market”; “Developing US LNG Exports – and the Benefits for the East Europe Region”.

January 22, 2019
Main topics of the event: “Amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act” – Speaker: 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” – Speaker: 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” – Speakers: Atanas Valov, Associated Partner and Ralitsa Tihova, Senior Associate in Energy and Litigation, Penkov, Markov and Partners

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