site.btaEnergy Minister: Some Interest Rate Adjustments on Belene N-plant Debt Accepted

Energy Minister: Some Interest Rate Adjustments on Belene N-plant Debt  Accepted

Kozloduy, on the Danube, October 25 (BTA) - There is information that four of the seven demanded adjustments of the calculated interest on the sum under the arbitral award for the Belene N-plant equipment, have been accepted, said here on Tuesday Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova.

She recalled that the National Electric Company (NEK) has not appealed the arbitration court's decision from this June, which orders Bulgaria to pay over 550 million euro for equipment produced by Atomstroyexport for the Belene N-plant, before the project was scrapped by the government in Sofia over financial considerations.

NEK has only objected to the way interest was calculated on the awarded sum, she explained, adding that these adjustments have been accepted by the Russian side. The arbitration court's final decision on the objections is expected, Petkova noted.

Asked whether the awarded sum will be paid out by this year's end or whether a deferral will be sought, Petkova said that NEK wants the sum paid out by mid-December. The joint Bulgarian-Russian working group is finalizing some details, so that an agreement on paying out the arbitral award can be signed. Asked whether Bulgaria will meet the deadline, which is set at this year's end, because of the European Commission's expected decision regarding the provision of state aid to NEK, Petkova said that the documents have been sent to the Commission on the very next day following the adoption of the legislation for providing a loan to NEK. "We are working very closely with the Commission and I am sure that we'll meet the deadline that we have set for ourselves," she commented.