Bulgaria's Former Energy Minister to Fight for Reopening of Nuclear Power Plant

Politics | January 25, 2008, Friday // 00:00
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Former Energy Minister to Fight for Reopening of Nuclear Power Plant Former Energy Minister Ovcharov urges a fight to save reactors 3 and 4 of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

Former Minister of Economy and Energy Rumen Ovcharov insisted Bulgaria should persist in its efforts to reopen units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant.

Ovcharov stated before Nova TV that the decision to turn off the reactors had been the result of a political compromise.

"Reconciliation with stupidity and bureaucracy will not prevent us from insisting that the reactors resume functioning", declared Ovcharov who resigned as Minister of Economy and Energy in the spring of 2007 in the wake of a corruption scandal involving Sofia's public central heating company. Ovcharov is the head of the Sofia organization of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the senior partner in Bulgaria's governing coalition. He became chair of the parliamentary Budget and Finance Commission in July 2007.

The two Soviet-made 440 MW reactors were closed down on January 1, 2007, as part of Bulgaria's EU accession agreements on grounds that they are outdated and dangerous. There have been heated debates about the actual motives behind this move.

Ovcharov also commented on the recent economic deals that the Bulgarian government signed with Russia during the visit of President Putin last week, evaluating them as beneficial.

The most controversial of these agreements is the one concerning the construction of the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline, since it appears to favor the Russian project over the EU-sponsored Nabucco gas pipeline project. While Nabucco aims to diversify EU's energy market with gas from Iran and Azerbaijan, the South Stream allegedly helps to tighten Russia's monopoly grip over it.

"Even if the Nabucco project existed, this would not reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia", Ovcharov stressed explicitly, pointing out that the real problem with Nabucco is the lack of dependable gas suppliers. "Iran is an unstable and unreliable partner, and Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are unable to provide large quantities of gas."

He also reminded of some severe political complications affecting the project such as Turkey's decision to exclude the French oil company Total from Nabucco when France recognized the Armenian genocide.

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