Price of Bulgaria's Nuclear Plant Not Subject to Moscow Talks

Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov (l) and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shmatko, signed two documents in Moscow, not related to the Belene NPP. Photo by Vasko Mihaylov, BNR correspondent in Moscow

The issue with the price of the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant in the town of Belene in Bulgaria has not been discussed in Moscow Wednesday evening.

The statement was made by Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, who took part in the meeting of the Bulgarian-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Partnership, only pointing out Bulgaria is interested in the realization of large-scale energy projects as long as they are aligned with safety requirements and are economically effective.

Traikov declined any comments on the scandal surrounding the notorious annex 12, signed with the Russian "Atomstroyexport" by the Director of the National Electric Company, NEK, Krasimir Parvanov, saying this is an internal matter for Bulgaria and the discussion will be held in Sofia at the end of the week.

The only talk, revolving around Belene, had been an agreement from both sides that there is mutual interest to find a solution for still-open issues in order to successfully realize the project while Bulgaria's desire to take into account the highest nuclear safety standards had been met with understanding on the part of the Russians, according to the Minister.

The participants in the 14th meeting of the Commission established concrete measures for the development of the bilateral relations and signed two documents – Memorandum for Collaboration between Small and Medium Business Enterprises and Joint Statement of Interest for Partnership in Modernization.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposal for imposing a moratorium on the launch and construction of new nuclear NPPs across the European Union.

MEPs say the resolution might give Bulgaria more time and grounds in the negotiations about Belene.

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