18.4.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 126/4

1.

The Council of Ministers opens a procedure for granting authorisation for prospecting and exploration of oil and natural gas in the area of ‘Block 1-22 Teres’, located in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, with a size of 4 032 km2, with coordinates of the boundary points from No 1 to No 7 according to the Annex.

2.

The Council of Ministers informs that the granting of the authorisation under point 1 shall be carried out through a competition in absentia.

3.

The Council of Ministers determines that the authorisation period for prospection and exploration shall be 5 years from the date of entry into force of the contract for prospecting and exploration with the right to extend this period pursuant to Article 31(3) of the Subsurface Resources Act.

4.

The deadline for purchasing the competition dossier shall be 17.00 on the 120th day following the publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5.

The deadline for submitting applications for participation in the competition shall be 17.00 on the 140th day following the publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union.

6.

The deadline for submitting the proposals under the competition dossier shall be 17.00 on the 155th day following the publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union.

7.

The Council of Ministers determines that the price of the competition dossier shall amount to BGN 10 000. The competition dossier can be obtained at the Ministry of Energy within the period set out in point 4 upon submission of a payment order.

8.

The applicants for participation in the competition must comply with the requirements of Article 23(1) of the Subsurface Resources Act.

9.

The applicant, and where the latter is a corporation — each participant in the corporation, shall submit a declaration of the absence of the circumstances under Article 2 of the Economic and Financial Relations with Companies Registered in Preferential Tax Regime Jurisdictions, the Persons Related to Them and Their Beneficial Owners Act (CRPTRJPRTTBO) (SG No 1 of 2014) in connection with § 1 of the Additional Provisions or evidence of the presence of the circumstances under Article 4 of the CRPTRJPRTTBO.

10.

The applicant-merchant or at least one of the participants in the applicant-corporation should have generated total net income of sales for the last 3 financial years, depending on the date on which it was established, not less than EUR 150 000 000. Where the applicant is a corporation which is not a legal person, the requirements under this point shall apply to the corporation as a whole;

or

11.

The applicants' proposals for the competition shall be assessed on the basis of the proposed working programmes, resources for environmental protection and bonuses as provided for in the competition dossier.

12.

The Council of Ministers determines that the deposit for participation in the competition shall be in the amount of BGN 15 000 payable within the deadline under point 5 to the bank account of the Ministry of Energy.

13.

The deposit of an applicant which is not admitted to the competition shall be returned within 14 days from the date of entry into force of the decision of the selection committee for non-admission.

14.

The deposit of the successful bidder shall be returned within 14 days following the entry into force of the contract, and of the other participants — 14 days following the publication in the ‘Official Gazette’ of the Decision of the Council of Ministers on the granting of authorisation for prospecting and exploration.

15.

The applications for participation in the competition and the applicants' proposals under the competition terms and conditions shall be submitted to the Document Flow Service of the Ministry of Energy, in the Bulgarian language, in accordance with Article 46 of the Subsurface Resources Act.

16.

Competition proposals shall be prepared in compliance with the requirements and conditions specified in the competition dossier.

17.

The competition shall be conducted even if there is only one applicant admitted.

18.

The Council of Ministers authorises the Minister of Economy and the Minister of Energy:

19.

This Decision shall be published in the ‘Official Gazette’ and on the website of the Council of Ministers.

20.

The Decision may be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court within 14 days from its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.