Bulgaria's State Utility Head Axed in Wake of Nuclear Plant Scandal

Business » ENERGY | April 15, 2011, Friday // 00:34
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's State Utility Head Axed in Wake of Nuclear Plant Scandal NEK CEO Krasimir Parvanov was given the ax after stirring a high-profile government scandal last week. Photo by BGNES

Krasimir Parvanov, head of Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK, has been sacked following objections to a deal he signed with Russian partners for the nuclear power plant project in Belene.

Late Thursday night the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), which groups the country's top energy assets, voted unanimously to fire Parvanov as head of NEK, a BEH subsidiary, the holding said in a statement.

The formal motives for dismissing Krasimir Parvanov as the CEO of NEK are "a brutal violation of hierarchical rules, and a failure to observe the approved procedure for holding negotiations."

Mihail Andonov, current chief accountant of NEK, was selected to become its acting CEO. Deputy Economy Minister in charge of energy, Mariy Kosev, will take Anodonov's place on the NEK Board of Directors. The company will start a procedure to appoint a new CEO.

Bulgaria's main electricity utility NEK and Russia's state-owned Rosatom Corp. have been in talks over the past week on extending an accord to build a 2,000 megawatt nuclear plant on the Danube, in the north of the country.

The scandal erupted on Tuesday last week after the head of the national utility company NEK Krasimir Parvanov signed 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 turned out that Parvanov has coordinated his actions with Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov, who oversees finance and economy.

It is still an open question whether the signed document is legally binding. The issue has stirred heated debates in Bulgaria as it comes before the two sides agree on the price of the project and conduct safety checks.

On Sunday the prime minister explained the fiasco with "miscommunication inside the government" and said he will ask Parvanov to submit his resignation even though he has "no guilt whatsoever."

The move comes only because it has become clear Parvanov can no longer have a productive work relationship with Traikov, the prime minister said.

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Tags: Russian, Russia, National Electric Company, NEK, Djankov, Simeon, Parvanov, Krasimir, project, plant, power, Russia, Bulgaria, Belene, Moscow, sofia, Belene NPP, Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, Kozloduy NPP, Traikov, Traicho, Rosatom, Atomstroyexport, nuclear, reactor, safety, Japan, Earthquake, tsunami, Fukushima, EU, emergency meeting, Kozloduy, Prime Minister, Borisov, Boyko, Bulgarian Energy Holding, Russians, BEH, Mariy Kosev

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