site.btaEnergy Minister Petkova: Second Part of Belene N-plant Project Equipment to Arrive by Year's End

Sofia, October 20 (BTA) - The second part of the Belene N-plant project equipment will arrive by this year's end, Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova told journalists in Parliament here on Friday.

She assured that the equipment will be well-protected and stored under optimal onditions. Experts from the National Electricity Company and the Kozloduy N-plant possess the necessary qualifications to care for this equipment, she said, adding that special sheds are being constructed. Bulgaria will carry out the equipment's pre-conservation with its own resources, but under strict supervision by the manufacturers, because this would guarantee its proper storage, she explained.

Bulgaria's plans to build a new N-plant, at Belene (on the Danube), were abandoned in 2012 as unfeasible. Last year, however, this country was ordered by an arbitration court to pay close to 1.2 billion leva to the Russian contractor AtomStroyExport for two reactors it had already built for Belene, and the Government has since been trying to revive the project.

Petkova voiced hope that the equipment will stay in storage for long and the best solution for Bulgaria will be found. She noted that there is interest from investors in building the Belene N-plant, with the most serious coming from China's largest state-owned nuclear company. "The colleagues are coming here, making the relevant analyses, observations, they visited the site as well. We will see whether there is true investor interest when we announce the procedure," she said.

Answering a question about when such a procedure will be announced, the Energy Minister said that an analysis is being prepared on the assets and liabilities stemming from the project, while the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' final report is yet to come.

Bulgaria's conditions are that such a project is implemented based on a market principle, Petkova said. The State will participate with a minority stake, because the project is a nuclear power plant, the risk for which is assumed by the State where the plant is located, she explained.