A total of 60% of Bulgarian energy market will be liberalised by 2007, when the EU the country expect to join the European Union, energy minister Milko Kovachev said. Umikor Med signed the first contract for direct delivery of electricity from the country's sole nuclear power plant in Kozloduy at freely contracted prices on September 16, 2004, Plamen Popov, an expert with the National Electricity Company (NEC) said. The entities that may make use of the privilege status as clients under the current legislation are the consumers of more than 40,000 MWh a year who had paid regularly their bills for a period of one year prior to the date of signing a contract with NEC. In 2005 the threshold for such clients will be reduced to a required annual consumption of 20,000 MWh so that the smaller companies may also receive energy at reduced prices. The status of a "privileged consumer" will be accessible to even more companies in 206 when the threshold will be further cut to 9,000 MWh. Umikor Med denied to disclose any details of its contract with NEC. According to sources of the PARI daily, however, the entities who sign a direct contract with the national producer do not pay the tax for delivery of electricity. The set quota of power that Kozloduy plant may sell at directly contracted prices is 200 million KWh. Kozloduy is going to sign a second contract by the end of the week which will exhaust the set quota, chief executive officer, Yordan Kostadinov, said.