The election is a recognition of EWRC high authority and expertise and is an appreciation for the active participation of its representatives in WAREG activities
In the next two years, EWRC representative Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev, will be a vice-president of the Network of European Water Regulators /WAREG/. The Bulgarian nomination in the organization management was approved after a vote at the 27th WAREG General Assembly held on 8 March2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. According to the organization Statute, it has up to four vice-presidents, who are elected for a term of two years.
The election of the Bulgarian representative as vice-president of the Network of European Water Regulators is another high appreciation for EWRC role and for its representatives’ active participation in the overall international organization’s activities, including the development of common regulatory policies. EWRC is one of WAREG founders and has always had its representative in the Board - in 2018, EWRC member Eng. Dimitar Kochkov, was elected as a vice-president of the organization.
Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev, director of the Water Supply and Sewerage Services Division at the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, has a rich professional biography in water and sewerage services sector. During the period 2003-2013 he worked at Sofiyska Voda AD, where he managed the activities of asset life cycle management, strategic and investment planning, proactive and reactive exploitation of water supply and sewerage networks and others. Since 2013 he has been working in EWRC as Head of "Prices and Business Plans - Water Supply and Sewerage Services" Department and subsequently holds the position of Water Supply and Sewerage Services General Division director. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Economics at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, where he has a Bachelor's degree in Business Management. He holds a Master's degree in Strategic Management and a PhD in Economics and Management. He has completed an MBA program at City University of Seattle, USA, as well as a number of certification courses.
Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev’s election is a recognition of his active participation in the organization overall activity in recent years. At its 27th meeting, the WAREG General Assembly considered and adopted a WAREG position on the proposal in Art. 4 of the new Drinking Water Directive for the use of the Infrastructure Leakage Indicator for the analysis and assessment of water losses, elaborated by him. In 2019 Dr. Kastchiev was awarded an acknowledgement plaque by WAREG President for his contribution in the planning and implementation of a large-scale study on the approaches to regulating the prices of water supply and sewerage services in WAREG Member countries, as well as for the report on Tariff Frameworks in WAREG Member Countries. The study’s results were presented within the First European Forum on Regulation for Water Services, organized by the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment /ARERA/. Within the project a detailed and operational study was carried out on the pricing methods of water services and existing practices in 23 WAREG member countries - regulatory powers and periods, pricing methods, fixed and variable prices and block rates, treatment of operating costs. He is also one of the authors of the Water Efficiency KPIs study prepared in 2016.
In 2022-2023, Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev leads a Working Group on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) studying the quality indicators used by regulators. In this group a study of the approaches to reporting data by water and sewerage operators, the regulatory tools used for analysis and validation, the setting of objectives and performance evaluation, detailed examination of the methodologies used and performance requirements is conducted. Within this study, 12 workshops were organized and a study report is pending.
At the 27th WAREG General Assembly meeting Prof. Andrea Guerrini, ARERA Commissioner (Italy) was re-elected as WAREG president. Together with Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev, Ms Szilvia Szaloki, Vice-President in HEA (Hungary) and Prof. Vera Eiró, President of ERSAR (Portugal), were elected vice-presidents of WAREG.
Information about the Network of European Water Regulators /WAREG/
The European Water Regulators Network (WAREG), which has been the Association of European Water Regulators since 2017, was established in April 2014 as a platform for cooperation between national regulators in the water sector in Europe, analogous to the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) in the energy sector. The network includes 24 national regulatory authorities with member status as well as 8 observers. The main organization’s efforts are aimed at harmonizing the practices, principles and regulatory framework in the water sector, developing joint policies for its sustainable development, exchange of information, analyzes and good practices. Among the objectives of WAREG is also to stimulate active cooperation between countries in order to increase the quality and efficiency of the water supply service, cooperation with regional and international organizations and national institutions that are relevant that are related to the problems in the water sector in Europe (https://www.wareg.org/).
