site.btaBulgarian Prime Minister and Russian President Discuss Energy Matters by Telephone

Bulgarian Prime Minister and Russian President Discuss Energy Matters by Telephone

Sofia, September 27 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed energy matters during a telephone conversation, the Bulgarian government press service reported on Tuesday.

Borissov told Putin that the Bulgarian government has taken steps to repay the obligations of the National Electricity Company to Russia's Atomstroyexport, which amount to 628 million euro as at September 19, including principal, interest and legal costs. He said the issue is already being discussed in the National Assembly.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister insisted that the interest terms set by Atomstroyexport must be revised. "We want to sort out the problems between the two companies and build a sound basis for future joint energy projects," he said, urging the Russian authorities to consider the Bulgarian claim about the interest rate on the debt to Atomstroyexport.

Borissov and Putin expressed their shared satisfaction with the results achieved by the working groups on the energy projects which had been agreed in an earlier telephone conversation between the two leaders at the beginning of August. They laid particular emphasis on the Balkan Gas Hub project in Bulgaria. They discussed the planning of a trilateral meeting between Bulgaria, the European Commission and Russia, which will work out the technical, economic and legal details about the project. Borissov and Putin agreed that Bulgartransgaz experts will update the Russian side on the business model devised for the natural gas hub project.

The Russian President welcomed the open dialogue with the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the honest position that the gas hub project should be implemented upon written guarantees by the European Commission and under mutually beneficial conditions for all parties.

The two leaders were glad to observe that the flow of Russian tourists to Bulgaria increased by 40 per cent in the summer of 2016 compared with the summer of 2015. Putin praised the security conditions for foreign visitors along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.