Constitutional Court of Bulgaria ruled in July 21, that Stanislav Todorov’s appointment as the head of the Electricity and Water Regulation Commission (EWRC) was not constitutional.
The opposition party GERB-SDS did not find the decision fair and invalid as the appointment was made before MPs passed amendments to the Energy Act. It had lowered the former experience in the energy sector threshold.
Seeking a replacement for Todorov, the then opposition did not leave any stone unturned. They emphasized the informal attitude of the Court and said that Todorov’s incapability to meet the legal requirement is a core reason to reject his position. As a result of amendments to the Energy act tabled on January 18 and came into function on January 20, post the deadline of the nominations.
In response to the appointment, the then opposition complained about the appointment to the Constitutional Court. The Court said that the Parliament should have chosen one of the two logical approaches of either continuing the appointment process under the old requirements or restarting the process from its beginning with the new rules.
The Court also mentioned that imperfection in implementing such a provision and Parliament infringed unconstitutionally on legal anticipations of the subjects so that the appointment process could smoothly advance in a foreseeable and lawful manner.
The anticipated head of the EWRC, Todorov, cleared the air and said that the regulator’s decision of price change neither be changed nor challenged as it was taken unanimously. He alone hadn’t taken the decision.
Wasting no time, he immediately called on Parliament to begin the proceedings to appoint his replacement as soon as possible. Todorov consoled the Bulgarian households and said they could trust and have faith in him. The prices of electricity, natural gas and heating remained stable for the next 12 months as the EWRC voted for them by the majority, which makes Todorov’s vote at the time.