Bulgaria and the Euro: What Happens to National Monetary Sovereignty?
One of the most debated topics around Bulgaria’s upcoming transition from the lev to the euro is whether the country is giving up its sovereignty
The energy ministers of Bulgaria and Russia have agreed that the two countries need to find a mutually acceptable solution for the future use of the equipment already produced for the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant project.
Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and her Russian counterpart Alexander Novak discussed over the phone the arbitration court ruling in the commercial dispute between Bulgarian state-owned power utility NEK and Russia’s Atomstroyexport, the Energy Ministry in Sofia said in a statement on Thursday.
The ruling requires NEK to pay EUR 550 M to Atomstroyexport as compensation for the equipment for Belene already manufactured by the Russian company.
Bulgaria cancelled its Belene project, on the Danube river, in 2012.
Following the court ruling, the Bulgarian government has said it is looking into options to sell the equipment to a third country. Meanwhile, Rosatom, the parent company of Atomstroyexport, has said that it is ready to consider the construction of new nuclear power plants in Bulgaria despite the demise of the Belene project.
Temenuzhka Petkova also informed Alexander Novak on Thursday about the state of play in the discussions with the European Commission about Bulgaria’s plans to build a gas hub on its territory.
“We look at Russia as one of the potential sources of natural gas supplies [to the hub]," Petkova told Novak, according to the statement.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has reaffirmed that the “Balkan Stream” pipeline remains a functional and commercially viable energy project
Sofia recently hosted the fifth edition of the Green Transition Forum 2025, a major regional event focused on sustainable development
Deputy Energy Minister Iva Petrova emphasized at Green Transition Forum 5.0 that Bulgaria’s energy strategy hinges on modernizing grid infrastructure and securing long-term supply agreements
From July 1, 2025, electricity and thermal energy prices in Bulgaria are set to increase
From July 1, 2025, Bulgarian households are expected to see an average increase of just under 5% in their electricit
Since its commercial launch at the end of 2022, the Greece–Bulgaria gas interconnector (IGB) has transported more than 34.5 million MWh of natural gas
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