'Areva' can find EU funding for Belene NPP project

The French company Areva, which is involved in the construction of Belene NPP, can find EU funding for its part of the project, confirmed yesterday the Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov after the government meeting. As Klassa wrote a day ago, Areva has already offered to the Bulgarian government a loan of €1.5 bn for the construction of the plant. It is envisaged the funds would be granted by the French export credit agency (ECA) Coface and Germany's ECA Hermes. Areva jointly with the German Siemens are partnering with the Russian Atomstroyexport in the construction of Belene NPP.

It was exactly representatives of Atomstroyexport that released on Monday a letter sent to the corporation Rosatom, which proposes that the Russian side withdraws from the project Belene NPP. "There is obvious pressure from the Russian side for the construction of Belene NPP. You see that the game is getting tough, so expect more misinformation on the Russian side," commented Traikov. He added that previous government failed to agree on the inflation index, currently being negotiated with the Russian side. The Minister was adamant that no unprofitable transaction for Bulgarian project would be concluded.

The previous government left little options for maneuvering to GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) on the topic of Belene NPP, said before BNT (Bulgarian National Television), the sociologist, Antoniy Galabov. According to him, Bulgaria's interest in the project is not protected. Russia seeks to set a precedent in Bulgaria in the NPP construction because more tenders are due to be opened for the construction of NPPs in other Eastern European countries. When in 2006, Bulgaria launched the tender procedure for the Belene NPP construction project, we were in the eve of our EU accession, and this is part of the legacy of the previous government, was explicit Galabov. Russia has economic interests and wants to find a market for its technology in EU, countered the sociologist, Kolio Kolev.

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