The European Union supports the construction of Burgas - Alexandroupolis pipeline and Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant in Belene.

The assurance was given by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs during his meeting with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev on Friday.

The prime minister pointed out that Bulgaria will rely on the support of the European Union in constructing Belene power plant. He stressed the project's huge significance for the stability of energy supplies in the wake of the decommissioning of another two units at Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant in Kozloduy.

"There is not turning back for Kozloduy power plant and its units 3&4 that were closed in January," Commissioner Andris Peibalgs said earlier on Friday at an international conference in Sofia.

The fate of Kozloduy was decided way back in 1999, he added.

Andris Peibalgs ruled out the possibility of reviving units 3&4, but sounded upbeat about Bulgaria's plan to take steps for increasing the amount of compensations.

At the end of last year, hours before joining the European Union, the country shut down another two reactors at its sole Kozloduy nuclear power station to meet the safety requirements of the European block.

The EU is due to pay Sofia EUR 550 M to make up for the closure of the four reactors and encourage economy in the use of energy.

Experts, however, say the plant has been stripped of production capacity worth EUR 3-4 B.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!