Compared to a profit of 19.2 million euros recorded in the same period last year, Bulgarian state-owned National Electricity Company (NEK) recorded a net profit in the amount of 26.7 million euros in the first half of 2020. The company’s total revenues dropped by 9.2 % in the first six months of the year compared to 2019, reaching 670 million euros. Expenditures decreased as well, by 10.7 % on an annual basis, reaching 645 million euros in the first half of 2020, including a 9.6 % drop in cost of purchased electricity which amounted to 557.7 million euros.
The drop in revenues is mostly due to a significant decrease of revenues from the Electricity System Security Fund, which fell by 33.7 % year-on-year to 251.6 million euros. The Electricity System Security Fund is established through a 5 % tax on the revenue of all electricity producers and traders in the country. However, revenues from electricity sales rose by 16.9 % to 389.5 million euros.
NEK recorded a net loss in the amount of some 660,000 euros in 2019. The company’s total revenues dropped by 12.7 % in 2019 compared to a year before, reaching 1.43 billion euros, mostly due to increased revenues from electricity sales which rose by 19.9 % to 716 million euros. Expenditures decreased as well, by 15.6 % on an annual basis, reaching 1.38 billion euros in 2019, since the cost of purchased electricity dropped by 14 % to 1.28 billion euros.