Atomstroyexport

"Rosatom has declared its readiness to take part in the implementation of this project. Today we see the constructive attitude of the current Bulgarian government, which intends to give a 'restart' to the construction of the Belene NPP.

The Bulgarian authorities plan to start selecting a strategic investor for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant before the end of February, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said in an interview with the national radio on Sunday, reports TASS.

Bugaria's state-owned electricity utility company has transferred the entire sum of its debt to Russia's Atomstroyexport owned over the Belene nuclear project, officials say.

The National Electricity Company (NEK) has paid off the amount through a transaction dated Thursday, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has told lawmakers at a Parliament Q&A session.

China's state-owned nuclear company is eyeing the Belene nuclear power plant project in Bulgaria, the government in Sofia has said.

In a statement to the media, the cabinet's press office shows images of a meeting of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and other officials with representatives of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) in Sofia.

The government has approved EUR 601,617,133 from the budget surplus to be allocated as state assistance to the National Electric Company (NEK).

The funds must be used by the state venture to pay Russian Atomstroyexport for the equipment ordered for the Belene NPP.

There have been two offers from private investors interested in the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP), Bulatom, a non-profit representing nuclear energy businesses and experts, has said.

"We have heard... of a proposal from an American financial consortium," Stanislav Georgiev, Executive Secretary at Bulatom, has told the Bulgarian National Radio.

Former Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev has become the third minister to be indicted over the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

Bulgaria could incorporate the reactors built for the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project into its existing plant, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has said.

Officials have discussed the prospect with representatives of Russian energy giant Rosatom, whose export arm, Atomstroyexport, made the reactors, Petkova has told private broadcaster bTV in an interview.

Bulgaria's main ruling party has pulled former Energy Minister Delya Dobrev out of the parliamentary committee set up to look into the circumstances around the abandoned Belene nuclear plant project (NPP).

The development follows a request sent from the prosecution to Parliament to have Dobrev's immunity as a lawmaker revoked.

Sofia City Prosecutors have charged former minister Petar Dimitrov with deliberately failing to apply the necessary controls over the work of two former CEOs of the state-owned National Electric Company, or NEC.