The construction of a new unit at the Kozloduy NPP instead of the Belene NPP must be agreed with the European Commission, according to EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

"If Bulgaria decides to build a new unit at the Kozloduy NPP rather than in Belene, it must notify the EC about the investment project, which will be studied in detail according to the Euratom Treaty," Oettinger told mediapool.bg.

"In any case, the discussion on a potential new nuclear power plant in Bulgaria must not affect the ongoing activities for the decommissioning of the closed units 1-4 of the Kozloduy NPP," he added, commenting on the upcoming referendum on the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria.

Under the Euratom Treaty, a new reactor at the Kozloduy NPP is also considered a new investment project and must be coordinated with the European Commission, Mediapool informs.

A repeat notification of the Belene NPP project would be necessary if the technical details included in the notification from 2007 underwent significant changes compared to the investment project coordinated at that point (as regards the type of reactors).

Five years ago, the EC came up with a positive assessment of the Belene NPP project.

On January 27, Bulgarians are to express their opinion on the development of nuclear energy in the country by answering the question "Should Bulgaria develop nuclear energy through the construction of a new nuclear plant?"

The referendum was called to decide the fate of frozen Belene NPP project.

The GERB government scrapped the Belene NPP project in March 2012, declaring it economically unfeasible.

Prime Minister Borisov suggested that the reactor earmarked for the project had to be moved to the Kozloduy NPP site.

The pro-Belene, opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, then launched a petition for a referendum on the Russian-Bulgarian project's fate.

The inspection of the petition recently concluded the 543 639 valid signatures are enough to make the vote irreversible.