site.btaMedia Review: October 26

ENERGY 

The Government’s decision to increase the capital of Kozloduy NPP-New Builds EAD by BGN 500 million for the purpose of starting the construction of a new unit at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is covered by the media. 

Capital: Eleven years after the establishment of the company Kozloduy NPP-New Builds EAD there is now a real chance for construction of a new unit at the nuclear power plant (NPP) to begin, which according to the plan will become operational in 2033, and more realistically - in 2036.

The procedure for the construction of Unit 7 actually started on October 25 with the Government's decision to increase the capital of Kozloduy NPP-New Builds EAD by BGN 500 million. The funds will be provided as a loan from the Bulgarian Energy Holding in order to avoid burdening the state budget. The initial plan to use the proceeds from the sale of the equipment for the Belene NPP for this purpose has been stalling for now, as the negotiations with Ukraine on the matter are going slowly.

This comes after a memorandum was signed a week ago between the US company Westinghouse and several Bulgarian construction companies, including GBS, for future cooperation in the implementation of the project. Westinghouse itself was predetermined for the project at the beginning of this year, when the National Assembly obliged the Council of Ministers to negotiate with the US government for the conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Kozloduy specifically with the AP1000 technology. 

The BGN 500 million allocated now will actually be enough only for the development of the engineering design for the future nuclear power plant. The construction itself is estimated to cost at least EUR 10 billion for Unit 7 alone, and it remains unclear how the money will be secured. It is possible that Westinghouse itself could become a strategic investor or a partnership with the State could be established. 

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Energy expert Ivan Hinovski told bTV that it is crucial for Bulgaria to have an independent energy facility, which does not rely on solar or wind power, for a period of time when the coal-powered plants are shut down. He gave props to the leadership of the Ministry of Energy for preparing a roadmap for the implementation of Units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy NPP. He believes, however, that the Government has set a somewhat optimistic deadline to complete the two units by 2033.  

Commenting the topic of Lukoil, he said there are arguments whether Lukoil did not pay taxes and fees, but the National Revenue Agency is the one that should have the say. It should be determined what Lukoil's revenues and expenditures are, he said. 

"Using Russian oil is profitable for the Bulgarian consumer. We benefit," Hinovsky said, adding that prices in Bulgaria are the lowest in Europe. 

According to him, the energy issues have nothing to do with local elections. "It is just time for a number of issues that have been dragging on over time to be resolved," he said.

"The previous ministers were incompetent, but the current leadership has taken matters into their own hands," Hinovski said.

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LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas AD issued a position on the topic of the taxes it pays, Trud writes. 

"In response to the ongoing political pressure, the management of Lukoil responsibly declares that it fulfils all its obligations to the Bulgarian budget and pays all taxes stipulated by law within the established deadlines. The total amount of taxes paid to the Treasury for 2022 amounts to nearly BGN 685 million, of which BGN 90 million are corporate tax and temporary solidarity contributions. For the first nine months of the current year, the company has paid nearly BGN 647 million, of which BGN 153 million was paid in advance in corporate tax and temporary solidarity contributions," the company said. 

The company also insists that all groundless accusations and slander stop. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry told Bulgarian National TV that Lukoil is paying its taxes on time.  

POLITICS 

The extraordinary plenary sitting of Parliament, scheduled for Friday, during which the legislature is supposed to try to override a presidential veto on revisions to the Energy Act, is covered by the media. 

Mediapool: The pressure exerted by GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) on the Government and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, which continued throughout the election campaign, will have its culmination on Friday, two days before the local elections themselves, because of which the National Assembly is not in session so as to avoid become an arena for canvassing. This is the day GERB leader Boyko Borissov and MRF Co-Floor Leader Delyan Peevski liked for the extraordinary session, when the parliamentary rostrum will inevitably be used again for propaganda and manipulation. The topic will again be energy, as it was at the other two extraordinary sittings about the rejected vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet on October 13, submitted by the opposition.  

NOVA TV quotes Continue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov as saying that CC-DB will not participate in Friday’s extraordinary sitting of Parliament, which he believes is connected to the upcoming local elections. "This is an attempt to pull the wool over the people’ eyes before the local elections. To some extent I understand GERB - many of their mayors have six terms in office,” he said, listing a number unaddressed problems towns ruled by GERB mayors have across the country.  “ They need a topic to divert people's attention just before the elections," Petkov said.

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Dnevnik: The candidate of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia, Vassil Terziev, will make it to the runoff in the upcoming local elections in Sofia, according to an Alpha Research poll commissioned by bTV and conducted among 800 eligible voters. The survey results give Terziev 29.8%, followed by GERB’s candidate Anton Hekimyan and the Socialists’ Vanya Grigorova. 

 Terziev's lead over Hekimyan and Grigorova is 10 percentage points, while the difference between the latter two is less than 1 percentage point. 21.1% declared support for the GERB candidate, while 20.2% for the BSP candidate.

Sega contributes with a headline that reads: “Fierce and Unpredictable Fight for Sofia”. The opinion poll's results are covered by most major media outlets.

ECONOMY 

Capital: Banking statistics as of September do not show any significant change in the trends that have emerged in recent months. Lending continues unabated, but deposits are also increasing at a similar pace, which maintains the sector's comfortable excess liquidity and therefore puts virtually no upward pressure on interest rates.

However, the gradual bottoming out of interest rates is continuing and is likely to become more pronounced in early 2024, especially if the central bank also resorts to an autumn hike in the level of mandatory reserve requirements. 

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The first private passenger train will start operations in Bulgaria next year, Telegraf learned from representatives of the PIMK Rail Express company, which recently became the first company in the country besides the state-owned BDZ to obtain a license for passenger rail transport.

The company is part of the large Plovdiv-based economic conglomerate PIMK, known for its business in the road transport industry, rail freight and construction. Its passenger division is planning for the first private trains to start running on the busiest railway line in the country, the one from Sofia to the coastal city of Burgas, no later than October 2024. For the time being, the plan is to start with daytime trains, while market studies will show whether there is a niche market for private night trains, including those with sleeper berths.