BULGARIA FACES A FINE OF €777,000

The European Commission  may fine Bulgaria with  €777,000 for the lack of a law on the storage of carbon dioxide underground, reported LiveBiz, citing a report of the Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov to the Council of Ministers. The deadline for the adoption of such a law expired on June 25, 2011 "In order to avoid a financial penalty of  €777,000, the drafted legislative act should be approved within a very short deadline," writes Traikov in his report. However, there is no explanation as to why the bill had not been drafted in due time, says the online edition. The idea of the law is that Bulgaria contributes to the EU planned reduction of harmful emissions into the atmosphere to 160 million tonnes by the year 2020.

For this purpose, the carbon dioxide captured from industrial plants is projected to be buried in natural formations in the earth. This will be done by companies that will submit applications to the State and will pay for storing the carbon dioxide captured from industrial plants. They will compensate their costs by trading carbon dioxide credits on the international market.

Minister Traikov believes that the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 could be around 15% of the necessary reduction in the entire EU. "No funds are needed for the implementation of the new regulations and their introduction will not affect directly nor indirectly the State budget," mentions Traikov in his report to the Government.

The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism did not comment on this information. By the time of publishing this news, we received no reply on the inquiry about Bulgaria's commitments to Brussels in this area and on the reason why the fine had been fixed at € 777,000.