Today, In Montenegro, Podgorica an agreement for cooperation was signed between the Energy Regulatory Agency of Montenegro /REGAGEN/ and the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria /EWRC/. The document was signed by the President of the Energy Regulatory Agency of Montenegro, Mr. Branislav Prelevic and the Head of the Bulgarian delegation and member of the Commission, Mr. Alexander Yordanov.

The agreement builds institutional framework to enhance cooperation at bilateral and multilateral level. The aim of the two countries is to improve the quality of regulatory activity and active cooperation for the implementation of EU directives and regulations in the energy sector and regulation of water services.

According REGAGEN and EWRC, the development of contacts between the two regulatory bodies will be important to establish a harmonized regulatory framework in the countries of the region in the context of the dynamic processes of development and integration of the electricity and natural gas markets. In order to increase efficiency and quality of the institutional and regulatory process, the two countries will develop various forms of cooperation - holding bilateral meetings on specific topics of common interest, exchange of information and documentation, etc. Experts from the two regulators will be able to participate in projects organized by the other side - training, conferences and seminars.

During the meeting the two delegations exchanged information on regulations, structure and organization of the regulatory authorities and discussed issues related to the priorities of their activities in the energy and water regulation sectors. In response to the interest from the regulator of Montenegro, a member of EWRC - Valentin Petkov explained that along with other state institutions, the Bulgarian regulator has an important role in the implementation of the water reform in Bulgaria. He thoroughly focused on the adopted national legislation to regulate the water sector and stressed that EWRC’s decisions in that field are based on clear principles and rules aimed at increasing the efficiency of companies and sustainable development of the entire water sector.