CEZ Group's investments in the electricity distribution network in western Bulgaria totalled 96 million leva (49.08 million euro) in 2007. Thus, CEZ Group invested more than 212 million leva (108.39 million euro) in the last three years, the company said.

The investments were made mainly in imporving the quailty and the safety of the electricity supplies, complying with the legal requirement for separating the activities and in the setting up of the new electricity supply company CEZ Electro Bulgaria and the merging of the three electricity distribution companies (EDC) into CEZ Distribution Bulgaria. The company plans to make investments for nearly 90 million leva (46.01 million euro) in 2008.

The investments over the last three years resulted in reducing the technical failures and the losses of electriciy along the distribution network in Western Bulgaria. The results may be attributed mainly to the reconstruction and the upgrade of the network., the repalcement of electricity meters and power transformers and the better control over the condition and the access to the networks.

The operating profit of CEZ's companies in Bulgaria totalled 75 million leva (38.34 million euro) in 2007, down by 13 million leva compared to 2006. The electricity price hike could not offset the increased staff and amortization costs.

CEZ has replaced 336,000 electricity meters in Western Bulgaria since the beginning of 2006. A total of 100,000 and 236,000 electricity meters were replaced in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Some 8,400 new customers joined CEZ's electricity distribution network in 2007. Thus, the total number of CEZ's clients in Bulgaria totalled 1,97 million as at the end of 2007. CEZ Group sold a total of 8,31 billion kWh of electricity in Bulgaria in 2007, up 3% year on year.

„Over the last three years we have made important steps towards improving the efficiency of CEZ's companies in Bulgaria. I believe that this creates good grounds for the implementation of our long-term strategy to improve tha quality of the services and to comply with the European standards in electricity distribution, Lubos Pavlas, regional manager of CEZ Group for Bulgaria, said.

CEZ Group invested a total of 775,000 million leva in improving customer services in 2007. The company opened four modernised customer centres. CEZ also signed partnership contracts with UniCredit Bulbank, DSK Bank and EasyPay. As a result the number of sites where electricity bills in Western Bulgaria may be paid exceeds 700 at present. This allows the payment of the electricity bills in Western Bulgaria to be carried out on the territory of the entire country, regardless of the clients' place of residence.

CEZ Group also launched a round-the-clock phone line (0700 10 010) in 2007 where clients from Western Bulgaria may ask their questions and receive information. The company has opened a total of nine renovated customer centres so far and will inaugurate eight more by the end of 2008.

CEZ Group's EDCs in Western Bulgaria merged in the end of 2007 into a new company, dubbed CEZ Distribution Bulgaria, which assumed all their responsibilities and obligations under the licence for distribution of electricity.