This week Bulgaria’s National Electric Company paid EUR 600 million to Russian Atomstroyexport, which manufactured two nuclear reactors for the second nuclear power plant in Belene, a project that was suspended by the country’s National Assembly few years ago. The two nuclear reactors will be soon delivered to Bulgaria and the country’s authorities are planning to conserve them at the construction site of the imaginary NPP in Belene. The question is what Bulgaria will do from now on with the expensive nuclear reactors? The authorities have been discussing for a long time different options, but have not come up with any concrete plan. One thing is clear now-Bulgaria will not spend public financial resource on the construction of the new nuclear power plant in Belene. 

Bulgaria’s authorities have been discussing two main options, in order to get back at least part of the money spent on those reactors. The country can sell the nuclear reactors to a potential buyer at unknown price. However, one thing is for sure in this case-no company would agree to pay the amount of money Bulgaria already paid Russia for the nuclear equipment. Thus, Bulgaria would only minimize its losses. Unfortunately, Bulgaria already failed to sell the two reactors to Iran during Premier Borissov’s visit to that country.

Bulgaria has another option- to find a potential investor which would build the nuclear power plant with own financial resource, without the assistance of the state on a purely market principle. According to some speculations, 3 or 4 large energy companies from the USA, France and China showed interest in Belene NPP. According to Bulgaria’s outgoing Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova, the outcome of that issue will be in 6 to 8 months. Moreover, Bulgaria’s nuclear power plant in Belene may become the first fully privately-owned one in Europe.

Meanwhile, the problems of the National Electric Company will not end any time soon, because it has to start accumulating financial resource, in order to pay off the loan it took from the state to pay the Russian energy company. Unfortunately, NEC will not be able to make enough investments in new equipment and maintenance of the state-owned electricity companies, because the indebtedness accumulated over the years placed a huge financial burden on its shoulders.

 

English version: Kostadin Atanasov