Energy Min: No Power Price Hike after Nuclear Plant Ruling against Bulgaria

Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has asserted electricity prices will not go up after last week's announcement that an arbitration court has ordered the country to pay more than half a billion euro over an abandoned nuclear project.

Petkova has told private NOVA TV broadcaster that state-owned National Electricity Company (NEK) will not bear any losses as a result of the ruling.

The reason is that the EUR 550 M Bulgaria has to pay to Russia's Atomstroyexport (a subsidiary of Rosatom) will either be used to buy the two reactors for the abandoned plant (one completely produced and another yet being built) or sell it to a third party.

"There is a market for such equipment," Petkova told NOVA, pointing to countries such as Iran and India.

Atomstroyexport for its part claims Bulgaria is to pay EUR 620 M, and not EUR 550 M, under the ruling. Its initial claim had been to the tune of approximately EUR 1 B.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's first cabinet (2009-2013) ditched the Belene nuclear power plant project in March 2012. A subsequent referendum failed to revive the project in the winter of 2013.

Rosatom CEO Sergey Kirienko, however, said last week his company was ready to consider building other nuclear facilities in Bulgaria.

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