Bulgaria's ex Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev has visited the site of what was supposed to the second Bulgarian nuclear power plant in the town of Belene, blaming current PM Boyko Borisov and the ruling GERB party for the demise of the project.

Stanishev, who is the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and was Bulgaria's PM in 2005-2009, visited the former Belene construction site Sunday together with other Socialist MPs.

After years of uncertainty and numerous delays, in March 2012, the Borisov Cabinet formally abandoned the project for the construction of a 2000 MW nuclear power plant in the Danube town of Belene, which was supposed to be built by Russian company Atomstroyexport under a contract first signed in 2006 by the Stanishev Cabinet. The reason for dumping the project was technically explained as "economic unfeasibility".

Speaking on Sunday, Stanishev lashed out against those in power in Bulgaria, and against the management of the National Electric Company NEK which allowed him, and other MPs to visit the former construction site but prevented journalists from accompanying them.

"Highest-level cowards banned the media from entering the Belene NPP so that they cannot see the rulers' lie about the construction site being a dumpsite. There is no "pond", as the Prime Minister calls it, there is a 60-meter deep earthwork with concrete. It is all ready for construction," Stanishev told reporters in Belene, as cited by BGNES.

"This NPP was supposed to withstand a 9-magnitude earthquake, and the cowards don't want to see the truth [that it can]. There are no more than 5 certified construction sites for NPPs all over Europe that can match the fitness of the Belene NPP site," he added.

Stanishev and the other Socialist MPs visited the Belene site before holding a meeting of the initiative committee for organizing a referendum on the construction of the Belene NPP.

During the visit, MP and ex Economy Minister Rumen Ovcharov slammed the Borisov Cabinet over the latest hike of electricity prices in Bulgaria as resulting from the large number of large-scale renewable energy projects.

According to Ovcharov, a large percentage of the renewable energy projects that drive the electricity prices up belong to oligarchs that are close to Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov, including his allegedly former girlfriend Tsvetelina Borislavova.

"In 2010, the electricity price fell, and Boyko Borisov started to swell it. He opened a plant of Ivo Prokopiev. Tsvetelina Borislavova is one of the largest investors in photovoltaic panels in Bulgaria. This is when this mass signing of contracts for renewable energy with persons close to GERB took place," Ovcharov argued.

He did state, however, that it was not really the green energy that drove up the electricity price in Bulgaria so much as the penalties that NEK will have to pay to Russia after the Borisov Cabinet terminated the Belene NPP project.

According to Ovcharov, nuclear energy is the only source of cheap electricity.

"There is a claim that the Bulgarian people cannot rule on this topic. Who makes the decisions in Bulgaria now – expert on everything Boyko Borisov, expert on nothing Delyan Dobrev (i.e. Bulgaria's Economy Minister – editor's note), and expert on whatever Valentin Nikolov, CEO of the Kozloduy NPP. And these people are telling us we don't have the right to hold a referendum?!" Ovcharov said.

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