site.btaBelene N-Plant Equipment Valued above Parliament-Set Minimum - Energy Minister

The Belene N-plant equipment has been valued above the minimum set by Parliament, Bulgarian Energy Minister Rumen Radev told journalists here on Friday.

In early July, the National Assembly resolved that the selling price of the equipment may not be lower than the price Bulgaria paid Russia for the hardware: nearly BGN 1.2 billion.

The Energy Minister would not specify the amount at which the equipment is valued. "I can assure you that we have every opportunity to achieve a higher price," Radev stressed. He pointed out that the proceeds of the sale are important to help build Units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy N-Plant.

Radev added that Ukraine is interested in acquiring the full set of equipment for the Belene N-Plant project as well as the design and construction project. He specified that a Ukrainian physical inspection needs to be organized and that Bulgaria is ready to welcome a group from Ukraine, with working groups working hard on the arrangements.

"The equipment is in perfect condition," the Energy Minister emphasized. "The delay on the part of Ukraine is due to the need to ensure financing and support from their parliament for that financing, for which they must go through the procedures." Radev said he knew that Ukraine is seeking financing shared between the US and Europe.

Ground for the power plant at Belene (on the Danube, Northwestern Bulgaria) was broken in 1987. In 2012, Bulgaria abandoned plans to build it as unfeasible. In 2016, an arbitration court ordered Bulgaria to pay BGN 1,170 million to Russian contractor AtomStroyExport for two reactors it had already built for Belene. After the Government tried unsuccessfully to revive the project, on October 11 the Council of Ministers revoked government decisions on the construction of the N-plant.

In the spring of 2023, Ukraine expressed interest in purchasing the two Bulgarian reactors for Belene and the related equipment. In early July, the Bulgarian Parliament mandated the Government to negotiate the sale with Kyiv. At a meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Athens on August 21, the Ukrainian side confirmed its interest.

www.mediapool.bg reported in early September, quoting information it had obtained from the Bulgarian Energy Holding, that the valuation had been carried out by Mazars Consulting EOOD, a subsidiary of Mazars Ltd. (a 90-10 joint venture between French auditing and consulting firm Mazars and Athanasios Petropoulos, the Greek manager of Mazars Consulting).

www.capital.bg has learnt that, according to the valuation of the reactors, the ancillary components and the technical design for the N-plant, Ukraine will have to pay nearly BGN 2 billion.

According to recent media reports, Mazars valued the asset at EUR 1 billion, but the equipment itself accounts for 75% of this amount, and the rest is design documents and licences. Other elements of the Belene site are left outside these estimates as they are unsalable: concrete structures, railways, a port and other infrastructure. The hundreds of millions in costs that Bulgaria has incurred over the last 30 years on consulting services for the project and lost court cases are also fully irrecoverable.