Czech-based CEZ Group says it has filed a request for international investment arbitration against Bulgaria. The claim is worth “hundreds of millions of Euros.”
A CEZ subsidiary is the largest electricity grid operator in Bulgaria covering the needs of several million customers. On its website, the group cites Bulgaria’s “failure to observe the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty.”
CEZ decided to turn to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) with the World Bank Group after “a number of actions of Bulgarian authorities damaging CEZ companies in Bulgaria, causing the long-term critical situation on the local energy market that is not improving.”
Bulgaria has not used the opportunity for an amicable settlement of the dispute despite repeated notifications and demands from the company.
Previously CEZ, alongside other power distribution companies, have been involved in long disputes with Bulgaria, with debt claims on either sides. These, however, have never been referred to arbitration.