Bulgarians Join Balkan Protest Against Soaring Food Prices
Bulgaria has joined Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro in organizing protests against rising food prices
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.
For the ninth consecutive year (excluding 2022), the electrical industry remains the largest contributor to Bulgaria's exports, as reported by the Bulgarian Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics (BASEL)
European natural gas prices have climbed above €55 per megawatt-hour for the first time in 16 months, driven by colder temperatures across the continent that are increasing demand for heating fuel
Serbian oil and gas company NIS, controlled by Russia’s Gazprom, is considering exiting its operations in Bulgaria and Romania due to ongoing difficulties in both markets
The Russian company Lukoil initiated the process of selling its Bulgarian assets in June last year, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced during a parliamentary hearing
In 2023, 10.6% of the population in the European Union reported being unable to keep their homes adequately warm
The Bulgarian government has announced a program to compensate businesses and non-household electricity subscribers for high energy costs until the end of March
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