After talks between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev we can not talk about increasing dependence on Russia in any way. This is what the Minister of Energy Temenujka Petkova commented this morning to NOVA.

"Our national interest and our energy policy are very clearly defined and they are related to ensuring the security of the supply of energy resources and to creating such conditions for the diversification of sources and routes for the supply of natural gas, practice also means energy security and competition and a competitive economy, "Petkova said.
 
The Minister also commented on the construction of the Belene NPP and its profitability at the moment. "It is now easy to talk about the value of the project in 2006. It is 3,997 billion euros, but it does not include the escalation. During the talks that took place from 2006 to 2008, the contract for the construction of the plant was not finalized and its parameters, including the financial parameters, were not determined, "she said.

In her words, the reactor construction technology is the most modern and the most reliable. "Currently, we have equipment that is paid, a licensed site, we own a large part of the documents related to the licensing of this project, so there are all prerequisites to make this project to be realized on a market principle. (...) This site is built for a nuclear power plant and has all the necessary infrastructure, "Petkova explained, adding that according to the latest BAS report, the site has the lowest risk of earthquakes across the country.

"The situation today is very different from what happened in 2012, when it was decided to stop the project, and there was also this financial and economic crisis that did not allow us to find the best financial model for implementation of the project, "the minister said.

Within a few days, Bulgaria will promulgate the invitation to select a strategic investor for Belene NPP. Petkova stressed that at present there is a serious investor interest in the realization of the project. It is from the Chinese company CNNC, which is the largest state-owned nuclear corporation in China. Framatom was also interested on behalf of the Korean Hydro-Atomic Corporation, General Electric and Rosatom. "All these requests, which are being made at the moment, indicate that there is such an interest in this project, under these conditions," said the Energy Minister.

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