Any further work on the project to build a second nuclear power plant, NPP, in the Danube town of Belene in Bulgaria would be resumed only after the conclusion of the analysis of safety criteria.

The statement was made by Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, who is on an official visit to Moscow. On Thursday, Mladenov met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

"A group of experts has been hired by the Bulgarian cabinet to analyze not only safety, but the economic and financial parameters of this project," Mladenov, cited by the Russian news agency, ITAR-TASS, pointed out.

Regarding the other joined project, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the Bulgarian diplomat noted the environmental assessment is still ongoing, adding the delay is not Bulgaria's fault and the company, which is to present the needed documentation, was to blame.

Mladenov assured Russia is seen as a reliable partner and supplier of energy sources, but did not miss reminding about the 2009 gas crisis, which was felt the strongest in Bulgaria, forcing it to alter its energy strategy.

"The main goals of this strategy now involve diversifications of supply routes and sources; the building of connections with neighboring countries, and increasing the capacity of gas storage facilities," the Minister stated, pointing out as example the European gas pipeline project Nabucco, whose contract is expected to be signed next week.

On the Russian gas pipeline project, South Stream, Mladenov said Bulgaria is expected to give it a statute of project with national importance, informing the preliminary permit procedures for the study of the Bulgarian sea sector of the line have concluded, while the financial assessment was still pending.

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