The amount of money Bulgaria will receive as aid from the European Commission to compensate the closure of Units 1 to 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is half the lost benefits the country will suffer, Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin said.

Talking to Darik News, Kafin explained that while the EC believes that EUR 500 M will cover the losses of the forced shutdown, experts estimate the real sum at over EUR 1 B. The money from the Union is hardly enough, the Minister pointed out.

Bulgaria has the political and economical ground to want the continuation of the financial aid program until after 2009, Kalfin said.

Bulgaria has already shut down its Kozloduy NPP Units 1&2 and it will have to close Units 3&4 before January 1, 2007, as stated in the country's Accession Treaty. Despite EP rapporteur Geoffrey van Orden's urge fore a more flexible approach on the issue out of fear of an electricity crisis in the whole region, the Parliament didn't even pay attention to the remark on Thursday.

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