Bulgaria to demand a new deadline extension for Belene NPP

Bulgaria will probably demand a deadline extension for the construction of Belene NPP. According to the new Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Delian Dobrev next week the GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party) government will decide the fate of the project and whether it will continue.

Russia has not been officialy informed about the Bulgaria's withdrawal from the construction project of the second NPP, stated the Head of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, quoted by RIA Novosti. He added that the position of Moscow on the project implementation has not changed, but that the Russian side is already tired of the ongoing five-year negotiations on the plant's construction. We are ready to fulfill our commitments, only if Bulgaria meets its own, explained Kirienko. According to him, the faster Sofia issues a decision on the project's fate and clarifies the current complex situation, the better. So far, Bulgarian official representatives have periodically delivered monthly statements which often contradict each other, commented Rosatom. Before Parliament, Dobrev stated that the future of the Belene NPP construction project was the top priority for our energy sector.

Dobrev also repeated that the construction of Belene NPP will not be a mutual Bulgarian-Russian project and delivered the idea for the construction of a VII^th unit of Kozloduy NPP. The procedure for transferring of the block will be time-consuming, but it will give us an option for nuclear power diversification, explained also the Minister.

The construction of the gas connection with Turkey should be finished as soon as possible, since the project implementation has already started, stated the Minister at the ceremony for taking over the ministerial post of his predecessor Traicho Traikov. The construction of the pipeline with Romania will be begin in early summer and the first volumes of natural gas will be transferred by the middle of next year. Furthermore, the construction works on the interconnector with Greece should start late this year or early next one, while the Serbian project is also advancing at an accelerated pace.

The main target of the MEET will be the energy efficiency improvement. Our economy is 89% more energy-intensive than the EU average, stated Dobrev. Another priority of the Ministry will be the development of household gasification as well as the financial aiding of small and medium-sized enterprises. For this purpose, overall BGN1 bn have been allocated under OP Competitiveness.

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