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.

In an interview with the newspaper 24 Chasa, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov has said that the Russia-Greece pipeline project, which passes through Bulgaria, will be scrapped due to environmental concerns. Borrisov had met Prime Minister Putin on Saturday in the capital Sofia to discuss the deal.

Russian are flocking to Bulgaria seeking property deals away from Russia's heat and forest fires, report Bulgarian media. Middle class Russian businessmen are hurrying to buy homes in Bulgarian Black Sea resorts and to send their families there to escape the heat and fires raging in Russia.

Bulgaria to go ahead with South Stream Pipeline

Bulgaria will push ahead with the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline and sign a roadmap agreement for the project after Moscow sweetened its offer, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Tuesday. Bulgaria and Russia have agreed on ownership of the pipelines on Bulgarian territory and on the usage of existing pipes, Borisov said after talks with Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.