Bulgaria is turning into an importer of electricity because that is more profitable for the country, energy expert Krassimir Manov said in an interview with the BNR. Despite the sufficient amount of capacities the country has, they are not producing electric energy that can be competitive on the market. Instead, it is more profitable to buy electricity from our neighbours, which, until recently, got their electricity from us – Greece, Serbia, Turkey and North Macedonia, Capital recently explained. According to data of the Electricity System Operator, whereas in the first 7 days of 2023 the export-import balance was positive, amounting to 153,243 MWh, in the first 7 days of 2024 it is 14,682 MWh negative, the Bulgarian news agency BTA writes. This means that in the first days of 2024, Bulgaria imported more electric energy than it exported. “Electricity generated by gas and coal-fired power plants in North Macedonia and Turkey is cheaper because they do not pay carbon quotas, as Bulgaria and the EU countries do,” Krassimir Manov explained. “It is not possible, at the rates being set down, to make this replacement in energy,” he added in a comment on the green deal.