The plans for a new Russia-backed nuclear plant in northern Bulgaria aim to help Moscow lay its hands on the energy market, impose a monopoly on the prices and keep them high, a right-wing leader has said.

"We are now buying a pig in a poke, which is flying on a Russian plane," Ivan Kostov, former prime minister and leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, told Nova TV broadcast on Sunday.

According to him Belene nuclear power plant will give Russia full monopoly over the energy prices in Bulgaria and will keep them high.

"The profit of Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant Kozloduy for last year totaled a scanty BGN 60 M. This is the reason why the prices of Belene output will be artificially inflated," he added.

Kostov harshly criticized the flimsy arguments behind key aspects of the Belene project, which have raised doubts about the real reasons behind Bulgaria's enthusiastic pursuit of a nuclear future, primarily lack of debates about its final cost and lack of assessment by the consultants on the project HSBC.

Safety concerns by the European Union forced Bulgaria to shut four reactors at its sole nuclear power plant at Kozloduy as a condition for its accession in 2007.

Left with only two 1,000-megawatt blocs in operation at Kozloduy, Sofia re-launched long-stalled plans to build two new 1,000-megawatt reactors at Belene.

But Kostov says boosting the capacity of renewable energy sources is the answer.

In spite of Japan's crisis, the EU's warning and the promise to sever ties with Russia, Bulgaria has given strong indications it will bow to Moscow's nuclear demands.

The head of the National Electric Company NEK Krasimir Parvanov signed on Tuesday an agreement with Rosatom's subsidiary Atomstroyexport that potentially threatens Bulgaria's national interests by obliging the Bulgarian government to reach a final agreement with the Russians on Belene by June 1, 2001.

The sneaky move was slammed by the Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov and led to Parvanov's dismissal, which was eventually overturned by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Borisov harshly criticized the minister's hasty and emotional reaction and threatened him with being kicked out of office.

It is still an open question whether the signed document is legally binding.

On Sunday the prime minister explained the fiasco with "miscommunication inside the government" and stressed Minister Traikov is the one to be held responsible for the project.

Kostov described Energy Minister Traicho Traikov as an honest man, who calls a spade a spade, and said the signed agreement is a clear indication that Bulgaria has bowed to Russia's pressure.