Bulgaria's EconMin Dealt 2 Blows over Belene NPP Scandal

Energy | April 6, 2011, Wednesday // 17:44|  views

Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov. File photo

Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov, has received a final warning from the country's PM, Boyko Borisov over pledging he will fire the head of the National Electrical Company (NEK).

Borisov revealed he had a conference call late on Tuesday with Traikov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, and their opinions on the scandal with an annex to an agreement with Russia on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant differ. While Traikov insisted the document was legally binding, while Djankov was on the opposite opinion.

On Tuesday, Traikov announced he had fired the head of NEK Krasimir Parvanov over a blunder in the negotiations with Russian company Rosatom for the construction of the Belene NPP.

Traikov said he axed Parvanov because the latter signed an agreement with Rosatom's subsidiary Atomstroyexport that potentially threatens Bulgaria's national interests by obliging the Bulgarian government to reach a final agreement with the Russians on Belene by June 1, 2001.

On Wednesday, however, Borisov said that Krasimir Parvanov has actually not been ousted. Djankov has personally participated in the negotiations between the NEK and the Russian side, he pointed out, so Parvanov has not signed the annex behind someone's back.

"This is the second and last time I warn Minister Traicho Traikov," the Prime Minister declared.

The newly signed document between Bulgaria and Russia for the construction of the Belene nuclear plant, which caused a scandal among Bulgarian ministers, is not legally binding, the Prime Minister added.

Bulgaria's National Electric Company (NEK) and Rosatom's subsidiary Atomstroyexport signed Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding to extend the analysis on the project by 3 more months - until June 30, 2011.

The prior extension of the agreement expired on March 31, which led Bulgarian Minister of Energy and Economy Traicho Traikov to declare just hours earlier, on Tuesday, that the Belene project had reached a "legal vacuum

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Tags: Belene NPP, Belene, Atomstroyexport, NEK, Krasimir Parvanov, Traicho Traikov, Boyko Borisov, Simeon Djankov

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