A number of observations made during public consultation for an energy-sector draft bill concerning the energy market’s liberalization, power utility PPC’s modernization, gas utility DEPA’s privatization and RES support, including stricter recruitment control at PPC, have been incorporated into the bill.

The draft bill, submitted to Parliament last Friday, will now be distributed to parliamentary committees for discussion before being transferred to the house for ratification towards the end of the month.

The stricter recruitment control at state-controlled PPC will require inspections and approvals by ASEP, the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection, during hiring procedures, not afterwards.

In another important draft bill revision, gas utility DEPA’s possible stake in the prospective Alexandroupoli FSRU would be held by DEPA Trade, a new DEPA entity being formed as part of the gas utility’s privatization. Previously, this stake was planned for the utility’s international projects division.

Furthermore, the new shareholders to acquire the Greek State’s 65 percent of DEPA Infrastructure, the gas utility’s other new entity in the making, will need to maintain this stake for at least five years.

Also, a universal electricity supply service covering the electricity needs of blacklisted consumers not wanted by suppliers for repeatedly failing to meet electricity bill payments, will require the market’s top five suppliers – up from three – to cover this sector’s market needs for two years if a competitive procedure for the service fails to produce a result.

Independent suppliers, repelled by market irregularities, have shunned this universal service since its introduction in Greece in 2011. This has forced PPC to step in, by law, as the dominant player.

The aim is to transform the universal service, offering electricity at considerably elevated rates, into an attractive market for local suppliers, as is the case in other European markets.