Slanchev Briag Electricity Distribution Company

active

In October 2007, the Austrian power utility EVN AG reached an agreement with the Bulgarian privatization authorities for the acquisition of the power distributor in the country's Black Sea resort of Slanchev Bryag (Sunny Beach). Slanchev Briag Electricity Distribution Company (EDC) catered for 3,100 households and 800 corporate clients. Most of the latter were big hotels. EVN received an option for the acquisition of the Sunny Beach power distributor in 2004, when it purchased the power utilities in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. However, the minority shareholders of the resort blocked the sale demanding a higher price. In 2006, EVN filed an arbitration case against Bulgaria at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris over its defaulting on the sale agreement. The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement in early October, ending a three-year deadlock. Under the new agreement, ENV to pay US$32 million for the power company and would withdraw litigation at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris for Bulgaria's failure to carry out duties under the Slanchev Briag EDC privatization agreement.