Bulgaria Ex-Energy Min Indicted over Belene N-Plant

Rumen Ovcharov, a former Energy Minister and Bulgarian representative in the Lukoil refinery's supervisory board, has been indicted on abeyance charges, BGNES wire service reports.

Earlier on Thursday, Ovcharov was summoned to the Sofia investigative office and is expected to be handed an indictment on Thursday in relation to the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

"The charges against me are of allowing for the first agreement on Belene NPP to be signed," the agency quotes Ovcharov as saying after leaving the investigation office. Ovcharov also hinted the charges may be politically motivated.

The prosecuting authority began looking into the involvement of former state officials in transactions carried out under the project. Separately, it replaced several state representatives to energy ventures who served as ministers under a socialist-led government in 2005-2009, Ovcharov included.

Petar Dimitrov, who was formerly an economy and energy minister, was handed an indictment in mid-October.

Delyan Dobrev, who was one of the two energy ministers under GERB's first government, may follow suit on Friday, NOVA TV quotes sources as saying.

The Belene NPP project was abandoned by Boyko Borisov's first cabinet.

The prosecution is yet to come up with a statement.