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Bulgarian Parliament Holds Energy Minister Hearing over Belene
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The Members of the Bulgarian Parliament are expecting explanations on what exactly the ousted NEK Director, Krasimir Parvanov, had signed with the Russian "Atomstroyexport." File photo
Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Energy, Traicho Traikov, is going to appear in plenary hall Wednesday to inform the Members of the Parliament about contracts signed with Russia for the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, in the Danube town of Belene.
The news was reported by the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary group of the center-right, ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, Valentin Nikolov.
"As usual, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, will make the best decision. We will learn if the NEK Director, Krasimir Parvanov, had acted within his authority or not," Nikolov said, but declined elaborating what he means by best decision or if he is aware of what exactly Parvanov had signed with Atomstroyexport.
Traikov's summons to the Parliament comes on the heels of the Tuesday scandal surrounding negotiations between the National Electric Company (NEK) and the Russian "Atomstroyexport" on the Belene project. With the endorsed documents Parvanov has committed Bulgaria to sign, no later than two months from now, a final contract for the NPP realization.
The Minister is going to answer MPs questions after the regularly scheduled Council of Ministers meeting.
It was also announced earlier that Traikov is going to travel to Moscow on Wednesday for the talks of the Bulgarian-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Partnership, but it became clear he had not yet departed.
The GERB leadership, cited by the Bulgarian daily Dnevnik, have made unofficial statements, saying they were surprised by the latest developments regarding Belene as well, and learned from Traikov and the media about the blunder, without knowing details of the contract and the exact commitments made by the Bulgarian side.
GERB MPs have not yet discussed the issue and expect Borisov to appear before the Parliament in the next few days and talk about the case.
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