Italian energy giant Enel has showed interest in investing in Bulgaria’s nuclear plant project Belene, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov announced in Rome.

Borisov broke the news after his meeting with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi; he is on an official four-day visit to Rome and the Vatican including both a number of high level diplomatic meetings and cultural events.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister made it clear that energy experts from Enel, a partly government Italian company, are going to visit Bulgaria in order to get acquainted with the condition of the Belene project on the ground and only after they Enel will the decide if it would like to invest in the future plant.

The construction of the second Bulgarian nuclear plant at Belene has stalled after the previously selected strategic investor, Germany’s RWE, which was supposed to provide EUR 2 B for the project, gave it up in the fall of 2009. The Bulgarian government of PM Borisov has not accepted a Russian offer for a state loan of EUR 2 B in order to keep the construction running until a new strategic private investor has been found. Borisov has made it clear that his team will seek a new foreign investor from among the large European energy companies.

“Bulgaria can rely on Italy’s support for its application to join the Schengen Agreement,” Berlusconi declared during the working lunch with the Bulgarian government delegation.

In his typical style, Italian Prime Minister pointed out that he and Borisov were the politicians with the highest rating in Europe as each of them enjoyed the approval of some 70% of the people in their countries.

“With EUR 2.4 B in investments, and over 1 000 Italian companies operating in Bulgaria, Italy is among the top performers among the foreign investors. I hope that soon we will have more joint projects in energy, tourism, and culture. And I would like once again to congratulate PM Borisov that in these time, which are hard for the European leaders, he continues to enjoy a high rating, not unlike me,” Berlusconi stated.

He further said that the Russian backed South Stream natural gas pipeline, in which the Italian energy company Eni is a major shareholder, is a priority for the talks between the Italian and Bulgarian delegations.

Berlusconi revealed he had told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Bulgaria’s possible involvement in the US missile defense in Europe posed no threat to Russia.

Late Friday night, Bulgarian Prime Minister Borisov participated in an unplanned three-way meeting with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi and the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who is also in Rome. According to an announced of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers, Borisov has informed Barroso of Bulgaria’s progress on fulfilling the Schengen Agreement criteria, and the current reforms carried out by the Cabinet.

During the afternoon on Friday, the Bulgarian government delegation opened a monument of the most renown Bulgarian writer and poet, Ivan Vazov, in Rome. Italian PM Berlusconi also joined the opening ceremony even though he had not been scheduled to be present there originally.

The monument of Ivan Vazov is located on the Thorvaldsen square in Rome, near Villa Borghese. The 2.6-meter sculpture is authored by Professor Velichko Minekov.

The decision to open a monument of Ivan Vazov in Rome was made by Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi and Bulgaria's Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, during Berlusconi's visit to Bulgaria in October 2009.

It has turned out that Berlusconi, who was the first foreign leader to visit Sofia after the government of Boyko Borisov took office, is going to pay soon another visit to Bulgaria.

The Italian PM has accepted an invitation to be in Sofia on June 13, 2010, where he and Borisov are going to inaugurate a monument of Italy’s national hero, Guiseppe Garibaldi.

On the second of his visit to Rome, May 22, Borisov will be received by Pope Benedict XVI in the private library of the head of the Catholic Church.

After that he will be meeting with the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Matthew Festing. His meeting with the Bulgarian community in Rome will be in the Bulgarian Embassy Saturday night.

On Sunday, the Bulgarian government delegation is scheduled to visit the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica and the church Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio, which was provided by Pope John Paul II to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for services.

On May 24, Bulgaria’s national holiday, the Day of the Slavic Script and Bulgarian Culture, the Bulgarian delegation led by the PM will participate in a ceremony laying wreaths on the grave of St. Cyril, who authored the first version of the Cyrillic alphabet together with his brother St. Methodius.

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