site.btaSofia Has No Information about Alleged Unofficial Decision in Bulgaria-Russia Dispute over Nuclear Project

Sofia Has No Information about Alleged Unofficial Decision in Bulgaria-Russia Dispute over Nuclear Project

Sofia, April 1 (BTA) - Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova said on Friday her ministry and the National Electricity Company (NEK) have not received any information about an alleged unofficial decision of the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) requiring NEK to pay 600 million euro to Russia's Atomstroyexport in compensation for an abandoned nuclear power plant project. "We are all expecting the arbitration decision, but there is no such information available to my ministry or NEK," Petkova told journalists in the National Assembly.

Mediapool.bg reported earlier in the day that the ICA has already made an unofficial decision in the legal dispute between NEK and Atomstroyexport over the discontinued project for a second Bulgarian nuclear power plant at Belene. The news was attributed to several knowledgeable sources independent of each other. Mediapool.bg predicted that by the end of April the ICA will render judgment in the case in which the Russian company is suing NEK for nuclear power equipment which has been ordered and manufactured but has not been supplied and paid for. The Russian claim is for over 1 billion euro.

Minister Petkova said she expects the arbitration court judgment to be rendered at the end of May or the beginning of June. She said she would not discuss the matter in detail until the official decision is made.

Bulgarian Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov also said he has no information about an ICA decision in the case. Concerning the alleged amount of the compensation, 600 million euro, Goranov noted that the Russian claim is even bigger, so such a sum could be considered.