Slanchev Bryag AD, the 75%-state-owned firm that has divested most of its hotel properties and now operates the infrastructure in the eponymous seaside resort, has been licensed to operate as electricity distributor, executive director Malina Bakalova said on Thursday. The company is now authorised to buy electricity from the National Electricity Transmission Company and market it to power consumers within the resort. The May 19 decision of the State Energy Regulation Commission in Slanchev Bryag's favour invalidates the active licence of Elektrosnabdyavane-Stara Zagora, the company that used to sell electricity on the site of the sea resort. The licensing decision can be appealed within a 14-day period. Our prices will not stray from the tariffs that Elektrosnabdyavane-Stara Zagora used to charge, Bakalova assured. Slanchev Bryag AD owns the power transmission infrastructure of the resort, the three hub stations and all switchboards. The power distribution licence will bid up the price of the resort infrastructure and the privatisation-bound company as a whole, Bakalova said. Elektrosnabdyavane-Stara Zagora was in the frame to buy the Slanchev Bryag electricity grid and was in talks with the resort management and the economy ministry, the biggest shareholder in the resort company. The union of owners of Slanchev Bryag tourist facilities was also interested in the on-site infrastructure.