After a one-year investigation procedure, the public prosecutor in question from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Corruption (PPO OCC) issued an order to halt the investigation in the case related to the procurement of fuel oil for the needs of the TPP Negotino. The collected evidence has not established that the suspects committed the crimes they were charged with, nor has the existence of another crime that is being prosecuted ex officio been established.
“The investigation determined that the procedures were conducted transparently. ESM aimed to include all operators that had licenses for the trade in fuel oil in the interest of faster delivery of fuel oil, whereby all economic operators that held a license were contacted and in some of the public calls they were invited to participate by notification, and in some of the public calls were also published in daily newspapers. The statements of representatives of economic operators showed that some of the companies did not participate in the procedures due to business and economic assessments, i.e. due to the high quantities, the necessary bank guarantees and the risks associated with the then state of the energy markets. Regarding the dynamics of the delivery of fuel oil, the collected evidence, documentation and statements of representatives of AD ESM and TPP Negotino showed that the fuel oil was continuously and timely delivered in accordance with the needs of the thermal power plant, and at no time was the process of electricity production called into question. According to the evidence, during the critical period there were no restrictions in the supply of electricity, and the production at TPP Negotino enabled the provision of electricity at significantly lower prices than the prices on the free market,” reads the PPO’s press release.
According to the Public Procurement Office OCC, the procedure did not establish that the concluded contracts and annexes caused damage to ESM or the State Budget. On the contrary, the evidence showed that the changes to the annual public procurement plan and the conclusion of the annexes were implemented by decisions of the competent bodies of ESM, by decisions of the Management Board, and confirmed by decisions of the Supervisory Board of ESM, in order to ensure sufficient quantities of fuel oil for the uninterrupted operation of TPP Negotino.
