site.btaWestinghouse Provides More Information about Shareholder Agreement with Kozloduy N-plant on New Reactor

Sofia, August 11 (BTA) - Westinghouse Electric Company Monday issued a statement to the media concerning the shareholder agreement with the Kozloduy nuclear power plant which the power station publicized a few days ago. The statement says that since disclosing some of the terms of the agreement could give considerable advantages to Westinghouse's competitors on the global market, the company was forced to remove some of the information relating to the pricing of specific components of the equipment and the implementation strategy.

On August 1 Westinghouse Electric Company announced  that it had signed a shareholder agreement on the expansion of the Kozloduy N-plant by building a new reactor, AP-1000. The government said shortly after that the agreement would become effective only if approved by a future government.

The news about the signed shareholder agreement sparked sharp criticism and mutual accusations among political figures in Bulgaria, with some saying that the signing of the agreement took place in a non-transparent manner and served vested political interests and behind-the-scene players.

In the statement to the media Westinghouse says that the shareholder agreement does not require any investment on the part of the Kozloduy N-plant, any subsidiaries thereof or the State of Bulgaria, save in the presence of an authorization for such in the process of approval provided for in the shareholder agreement. No government guarantees are required either, or agreements on purchase of electricity and prices for installed facility. The shareholder agreement provides a framework to discuss possibilities for reaching the lowest price for financing the outlays, so as to have the lowest possible value of the project. The Bulgarian government is to consider all options and choose the optimum one in a bid to reach low prices of power, the statement reads. It says also that Westinghouse will provide an analysis of the future demand for power and projected price of the electricity generated by the future reactor.

Westinghouse also says that they gave their consent for the agreement to be made public notwithstanding that international practices do not recommend disclosing specific contractual terms so as not to jeopardize the competitiveness of the concerned parries. The company says it agreed to publicizing the agreement led by their desire for transparency to the greatest possible extent, without this harming their competitive advantage on the global market.

The statement says also that information on the progress of the project had been provided to the key political parties in Bulgaria.