The Czech electricity producer ČEZ has unveiled plans to sell its Bulgarian assets to Inercom Bulgaria, subject to regulatory approval from the Bulgarian anti monopoly authority, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). Seven subsidiaries are includes in the deal, namely: ČEZ Bulgaria, ČEZ Elektro Bulgaria, ČEZ ICT Bulgaria, ČEZ Razpredelenie, ČEZ Trade Bulgaria, Free Energy Project Oreshetz (a solar facility) and Bara Group (a biomass gasification power plant).
ČEZ entered the Bulgarian market in 2004 by acquiring 67% of three power distribution companies. In 2007, Bulgarian authorities unbundled the electricity distribution activities from power supply and these three companies became ČEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria (distribution business) and ČEZ Elektro Bulgaria (power trading business), both 67% owned by ČEZ. In 2016, ČEZ Razpredelenie sold electricity to 3 million customers while ČEZ Trade Bulgaria and ČEZ Elektro Bulgaria sold 9.7 TWh of power to local customers.
The company is implementing a divestment strategy in the country and already sold the 1,260 MW coal-fired Varna power plant to the Bulgarian company SIGDA in November 2017. ČEZ has been at odds with the Bulgarian government over electricity tariffs for several years and filed a lawsuit with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2016.
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