Bulgarian PM Borisov Gets 'Tougher' with Russia on Belene NPP

Business » ENERGY | November 26, 2010, Friday // 15:56
Bulgaria: Bulgarian PM Borisov Gets 'Tougher' with Russia on Belene NPP Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov stated he is unshakabe about Belene. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria will not succumb to the Russian demand to decide whether it will the building of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant by the spring, according to Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov.

"The more ultimatums I receive, the tougher I get," Borisov said.

Earlier Friday, Russia declared Bulgaria has time until the spring to decide on its participation in the Belene Nuclear Power Plant and sign a contract with Russia for the creation of a project campaign, as stated by Sergey Kiriyenko, CEO of Russian state energy company Rosatom.

Kiriyenko told Bulgarian media that if the deadline is not met, the contractor on the project, Atomstroyexport, will redirect the equipment for the Belene NPP to another nuclear project and Russia will refuse to become a shareholder in the Bulgarian plant.

"Russia will not lower the Belene NPP price to EUR 5 B, as demanded by the Bulgarian government," Kiriyenko said.

He pointed out that the real price of the plant is at least EUR 6,7 B, but was lowered to EUR 6,4 B during the bilateral negotiations.Therefore, he underlined, Russia will not make any more compromises.

Borisov, however, was positive that the price of EUR 6.4 B is too much, even though he pointed out that former PM Sergey Stanishev's government also has been unrealistic with its initial estimates of EUR 3.9 B.

The Belene NPP deal was expected to be signed by Bulgaria and Russia on November 13 2010 during Russian President Vladimir Putin visit to Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian government was not satisfied with the price offered.

Subsequently, Bulgaria invited Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia to join the project, but development is still to be seen in this area.

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Tags: Sergey Kiriyenko, Belene, Rosatom, Russian, Boyko Borisov

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