The European Commission approves the measures that the Bulgarian government took to deal with the fallout of the global economic turmoil, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said upon his return from Brussels.

"Brussels highly assesses Bulgaria's success in maintaining its economic stability thanks to the package of measures that the government took to weather the global crisis and ensure in 2009 economic growth, new jobs and incomes," Stanishev told reporters.

The prime minister stressed that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has voiced support for the reforms in the judicial system that aim to bring Bulgaria up to the highest standards in Europe.

Asked to comment the threat of a new cutoff in Russian gas supplies, Stanishev said Bulgaria seeks dialogue with EU sources of financing to implement energy projects and ensure alternative gas routes.

He also expressed the belief that the European Union will pay further compensations to Bulgaria for the two closed reactors at the country's Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Brussels has paid all EUR 550 M of compensations that it had promised for the decommissioning of the two units in 2006.

Bulgaria's Socialist-led government has recently called on Brussels to compensate the country for the double blow of the gas crisis and the global economic slowdown by allowing a restart of the units.

The European Commission however has been adamant that a relaunch of the two Soviet-era reactors at Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant is out of the question.

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