The European Commission (EC) report on the safety of units 3, 4 of Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant will be completed in April 2004, Bulgarian Prime Minsiter Simeon Saxe-Coburg said Friday.

Experts of the Commission carried out the peer review on the two 440-megawatt reactors in November. According to an agreement between the European Union (EU) and candidate member Bulgaria, the units should be closed in 2006. Nevertheless, that decision still faces strong resistance from many Bulgarian experts and politicians who fear that the move would trigger a deep economic crisis in the country.

The Bulgarian Government will try to get some extra financial aid from the EU in return for closing down the reactors, Saxe-Coburg said.

The prime minister also underlined that it was not impossible for Bulgaria to combine a future EU membership with developing its power engineering industry.

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