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Differences Crop up between Russia and Bulgaria over Nuclear Deal

Posted by Sayan Guha on 17.11.2010 14:58 | Published in International Relations & Trade
Traicho Traikov, Bulgarian Minister for Economy, Energy and Tourism

Serious differences cropped up between Russia and Bulgaria over the cost of the proposed 2000 Megawatt Nuclear Power plant at Belene on the Danube River.

In a statement released on Monday, the Bulgarian Energy and Economy minister Mr. Traicho Traikov said the Russian firm ‘Rosatom’, which won the contract in 2005 to build the plant for 4 billion Euros ($5.45 billion), has revised the price upwards to 6.3 billion Euros citing delay in implementation.

 

However, "The proposed price is unacceptably high for us," Traikov said in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. "The power plant should not cost more than 5 billion Euros in our estimates".

 

In an earlier statement on Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had justified the higher cost saying Rosatom has given ‘precise cost estimate’ although he did not mention any numbers.

Atomstroiexport, a unit of Rosatom was awarded the contract while Siemens and Areva were given sub-contracts. However, the project came to a standstill 16 months ago after state funding was refused, resulting in withdrawal of RWE, Germany’s second largest power producer.

 

Traicho Traikov, Bulgarian Minister for Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov, Bulgarian Minister for Economy, Energy and Tourism Image: Government.bg
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