In order Bulgaria to participate in the market coupling in European Union and Southeast Europe is necessary no additional fees and taxes on the import-export flows to be imposed. This was made clear by the presentation by Konstantin Konstantinov, Executive Director of Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) - "IBEX involvement in market coupling between the countries in SEE region and its integration into the internal energy market", presented during the Seventh Regional Energy Conference in Sofia.
 
That way the price of electricity in Bulgaria would be comparable to those of the European Union (EU) and Southeast European markets. This is also one of the conditions for coupling of energy markets, which will contribute to the security of supply and will ensure that all consumers will be able to buy electricity at market prices. 
 
The obligation to electricity markets integration in EU results from the European Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015 establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (CACM). However, the Regulation does not set specific deadlines for finalizing this process.
 
In the short term, the most realistic direction for coupling the Bulgarian electricity market is with the markets of Romania and Serbia. However, this is a solution that needs to be discussed at the state level after a wide public discussion, Konstantinov commented.
 
With regard to the future coupling with the Romanian market there is no agreement yet. However, this may change when the 4MMC regional group, in which Romania participates together with Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, takes steps to integrate with the MRC (Multi Regional Coupling), where BENEB is a full member since January 2016. This is expected to happen by the end of 2019.
 
From a technical point of view, coupling with Serbia's market zone will be possible when they meet the MRC requirements.
 
As a temporary solution for market coupling with the Macedonian market zone, the possibility of creating import/export zones is considered. The real market coupling, however, can only happen when Macedonia starts a "Day ahead" market, which can be expected in 2019.