The largest electricity trader in Bulgaria – Grand Energy Distribution, associated with the Bulgarian businessman Hristo Kovachki, has stopped fulfilling its, over 100 million euros worth, supply contracts in August. If the company goes bankrupt, if will cause some serious shifts in the Bulgarian market.
High electricity prices on the exchanges adversely affected the operation of Grand Energy Distribution, whose revenues in 2020 amounted to almost 390 million euros and this year are expected to exceed 500 million euros. However, in early October, three companies, two of which are local subsidiaries of Swiss Alpiq and Greek Elpedison, have filed a lawsuit due to the unfulfillment of the futures contracts worth over 100 million euros, requesting the court to declare the insolvency of Grand Energy Distribution. So far, the court has appointed an expert to prepare the financial report on the company.
In mid-November, Grand Energy Distribution completed the ownership change, with the new owner being local company Stoimenov Trading, which is 100 % оwned by Stanislav Stoimenov and lists construction, installation and repair of energy equipment among its potential areas of activity, but it is still believed to be connected with Kovachki.
The last major bankruptcy in the Bulgarian electricity market was in late 2017, when Future Energy, one of the potential buyers of CEZ’ assets in Bulgaria, unexpectedly withdrew from the market.
