site.btaBulgaria and Russia Deepen Energy Partnership

Moscow, September 25 (BTA) - The Bulgaria-Russia Working Group on Energy which operates under the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the two countries is meeting in Moscow between Monday and Tuesday, the Bulgarian Energy Ministry reported.

The first day the sides discussed bilateral cooperation in the sectors of electricity, nuclear power and natural gas. The event was opened by Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. The sides noted the invigoration of bilateral dialogue over the last year.

The Russian side noted that Power Machines, a St Petersburg-based energy systems supplier, is interested in expanding its cooperation with Bulgaria as regards the renovation of energy facilities, including the thermoelectric power plants Maritza East 2, Bobov Dol and Sofia, and the hydroelectric power plants Kitnitsa, Ardino and Byal Izvor. The company is willing to continue to contribute actively to the equipment upgrade at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant.

Another company in St Petersburg, Rakurs Engineering, has confirmed its readiness to share in the reconstruction of hydroelectric power facilities and assist the introduction of digital technologies in thermoelectric power plants in Bulgaria.

Russia's National Energy Savings Union wants to help upgrade Bulgaria's coal-fired power plants in line with new EU environmental requirements.

In the field of nuclear energy, the sides noted their longtime successful cooperation in providing nuclear fuel and related services to the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria. With the active participation of Russia, Bulgaria has successfully completed necessary activities for extending the service life of Kozloduy's Reactor Unit 5 to 60 years and is implementing a similar programme for Reactor Unit 6.

Furthermore, the Russian side confirmed the interest of Rosatom to take part in the decommissioning of Kozloduy's Reactor Units 1 to 4, a process financed by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund.