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“Stolipinovo”, Bulgaria European case study Renate Lackner-Gass renate.lackner-gass@evn.at +43 67681032799 CSR-Organisation EVN AG

18.06.2015

EVN at a glance

Bulgaria – EVN’s focus in SEE

2 EVN at a glance

Bulgaria at a glance:

Area: 111,000 km2

EVN's supply area: ~42,000 km2 (~ Size of Switzerland)

Population (2014) 7,364,570

Economically active population, 15-64 years (2014)

62.2% (Austria: 75.6%)

GDP per capita (2013)

EUR 12,000 (Austria: EUR 38,050; Germany: EUR 33,355)

Sources: Eurostat, Bulgarian National Statistical Institute http://censusresults.nsi.bg/Census/Reports/2/2/R3.aspx

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Sofia

Plovdiv

Stolipinovo?

•  district of the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv (350.000 inhabitants)

•  the most populour predominantly Roma-inhabited district on the Balkans/Europe:

•  about 50,000 people

•  4.5 km2 territory

•  socio-economic problems: low education level; high levels of unemployment; criminality

•  Illegal building and bad infrastructure, only electricity during night

FACTS &

FIGURES

BEFORE THE

PROJECT

•  Technological losses 40 %

•  6 million euro unpaid debt

•  5.500 connected to the grid and 2.000 unconnected facilities

•  3% collection rate

•  17 transformer stations

•  187 km electric lines and infra-structure in very bad condition

•  56 GWh annual consumption

What Were We Talking About?

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European standards of electricity supply in one of the biggest European Roma residential districts

Support by the public stakeholders and local people to secure the process

Technical, communicational, mediation, public etc.

Similar smaller projects in Sliven, Nova Zagora, Stara Zagora

Aspects

The Project

First experience

EVN Goal

Stake-holders

•  Weekly Meetings with informal leaders

•  Explanation of the project

•  Acceptable decision for the old debt

•  Signing of an agreement for the old debt before installation of the new electrometer (one year after start)

•  Appointment of 5 people to work for EVN in the neighborhood, opening of two cash saloons

•  Regular information to the local authorities

ACCEP-TANCE OF

THE PROJECT

What was the mediation strategy?

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Dialog with

community

What the Roma community asked for?

•  To install the meters at eye level, so they could track their consumption.

•  To have one meter per household, no sharing with other families.

•  Equal treatment as clients.

•  To establish cash payment kiosks within the neighborhood so they would not have to travel.

•  To hire Roma to work for EVN in Stolipinovo.’

DISTANT READING SYSTEM

& REMOTE

CONTROL

•  Electronic electrometers with communication possibilities at eye level

•  Distant reading system and remote control of the consumption, distant switch off/on of the electricity supply

•  Change of the LV cables and installation of new tables with protection

•  Reconstruction of the LV network

•  Installation of balancing electrometers in the deviations of the transformer stations

What was the technical solution?

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CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS

Municipality elections during the realization of the project

Coalition with partners; presentation of the project to the new mayors

Break-Points

Coordination of KEZ employees and the appointed from the neighborhood people, installation of safety fuse in the tables

Check of the electrometers on request; advises for energy saving, target oriented brochure with easy explanation

A lot of complaints because of a falling of the circuit-breakers in the tables

Low winter temperatures resulting in high consumption and high bills for January and February

Dynamic Process - Changes

Adaptation

! Recalculation of the profitability

! Old debt

! New connections

! Migration of people

•  Loss from the collectiveness of the old debt

•  win from lower technical losses

•  higher collection rate of the current invoices

•  Start of the collection – postponed for July 2008

•  Financing of the connection fee by NGOs

•  Cooperation with authorities for receiving some permits

•  Implementation of new projects

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• Training on the topic "Good management of the family budget"

•  Place – Stolipinovo Quarter, Plovdiv

•  Participants - 50 representatives of families of low income level

•  Purpose – pursuit of new knowledge as a means to reduce the negative impact of the crisis

•  Results – successful completion of the training, positive response among the society and the authorities

•  Prospects – the positive results and the interest towards the project – reasons for planning future events

EVN Bulgaria and Open Society Institute

Empowering people

FACTS &

FIGURES AFTER

THE PROJECT

•  Collection rate 98.6 %

•  Technological losses – 5.0 %

•  Around 6.400 connected to the grid

•  3.800 agreements for the old debt

•  17 renovated transformer stations

•  185 km changed electric lines and infrastructure

•  2 new cash saloons in the area

•  Around 3.2 million euro investment

•  The project is profitable now

What Are We Talking About now?

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Realized projects – 40.000 customers

Панагюрище

Карлово

Пазарджик Белово

Велинград

Пещера

Девин

Калояново

Стамболийски

Смолян

Чепеларе

Асеновград

Казанлък

Раковски

Чирпан

Първомай

Стара Загора

Загоре

Нова Загора

Димитровград

Хасково

Кърджали

Златоград

Момчилград

Харманли

Крумовград

Свиленград

Раднево

Сливен

Елхово

Карнобат

Поморие

Приморско

Бургас

Пловдив Север, Център, Юг

Бургас юг

Ямбол

Further Projects

Status: 09.02.2010

Градец

Стралджа

Айтос

•  Building trust,respect through openess, transparency

•  Respect and treat people the same way as in Austria

•  Starting a mediation process – get to know the costumer and treat them equally

•  Seeing it from a new prospective - to break the traditional elements and the complexity

•  Develop the program locally, form partnerships

•  Proactive communication of the process, targets and results

•  Use the learnings for other projects in BG and in MK

What were the learnings for EVN ?

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•  Case Study of the University of Standford

•  EVN in Bulgaria B – Engaging the Roma community

•  EVN in Bulgaria C – Making it work….

•  Master Thesis: Proactive Stakeholder Engagement as a Risk Management Instrument for Socio-Economic Challenges – A case study of EVN in Bulgaria (Mag. Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi)

Case study and Master Thesis of the project