site.btaGovernment Proposes Re-start of Belene N-plant Project

Sofia, May 16 (BTA) - The government proposes restarting the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant project on a market principle. Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova briefed reporters Wednesday on a decision of the Council of Ministers implementing a resolution of Parliament of March 2, 2018, which commissioned the Energy Ministry to draw up a report on the utilization of the Belene assets and submit it to Parliament by June 30.

A working group of energy experts had been tasked with studying all possible options to utilize the equipment meant for the project which was abandoned in 2012 as unfeasible.

In 2016 this country was ordered by an arbitration court to pay 1,170 million leva to the Russian contractor AtomStroyExport for two reactors it had already built for Belene.

Petkova said that the motion she submitted at Wednesday's regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, along with the report of the working group, is to make an attempt whereby the Belene N-plant project is implemented on a market principle, renewal of the activities related to the implementation of the project through selection of strategic investor, without state guarantees on the part of Bulgaria and without concluding long-term agreements on purchase of power produced by Belene.

The legal means will be through separation of the assets and liabilities of the National Electricity Company in a separate company. Petkova said that such a procedure will need to be started, adding that the legal backing of the procedure is to be prepared by the end of the year so that the procedure is carried out to see in reality what the investor interest is. She said that serious investor interest in the project has been repeatedly expressed in the past year. The Minister argued that only by means of a competitive procedure will it become clear whether the investor interest is real.

On Sunday Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that a moratorium imposed on the construction of Belene by his previous cabinet in March 2012 should be lifted to enable the National Assembly to mandate a start of talks with investors. Last week the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) confirmed its investment interest in the Belene project.