Bulgaria's former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. BGNES
Bulgaia did not need the Belene Nuclear Power Plant project that was canceled on Wednesday, according to the country's former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva.
In a video chat with supporters, Kuneva described the project as "megalomaniac", the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informs.
"We had to secure a western investor for Belene NPP and we lost it," Kuneva commented, expressing her agreement with the centrist-right GERB government's decision to drop Belene.
According to Kuneva, if a gas turbine power plant that depends on Gazprom gas is constructed in Belene, Bulgaria's nuclear dependence on Russia will be substituted with an even deeper gas dependence.
According to the former EU Commissioner, an energy strategy needs to be created in Bulgaria that includes three key principles – safety, transparency and good economic efficiency for each project.
Bulgaria?s government announced on Wednesday it has abandoned plans to build a new, 2000 megawatt nuclear power plant on the Danube River for which it has contracted Russian state firm Atomstroyexport.
The government has proposed that a gas power plant is built on the site in Belene.
Kuneva's Bulgaria for Citizens movement is expected to turn into a political party.