May 31 (SeeNews) - Russia is ready to return to the project for construction of the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) in Bulgaria, Russian president Vladimir Putin has said.
"Russia is ready to return to the idea of carrying out the project to build Belene NPP – if, of course, the Bulgarian leadership decides to. On a market basis, of course," Putin said in a statement after a meeting with Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov in Moscow on Wednesday.
"After 10-15 years, we will need baseload power. All [interested parties] are welcome, on a market principle," Borissov said in a separate statement issued by the Bulgarian government press office.
In 2008 the then Socialist-led government broke ground for the plant in Belene, on the Danube river, after a long pause and hired Russia's Atomstroyexport to build two reactors for the plant. After the project made scant headway, Bulgaria finally abandoned it with a parliament decision in February 2013, citing huge consruction costs and unclear prospects for the sale of the electricity that will be produced by the plant.
In December 2016, Bulgaria paid 601.6 million euro ($720.5 million) in compensation to Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, for the equipment manufactured by the Russian company for the project following international arbitration. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
In May, Bulgaria's government asked parliament for a mandate to negotiate with potential strategic investors in the project and submitted a report on the options for its revival drafted by the energy ministry. An analysis by the ministry has shown that the most appropriate option for rational use of the existing equipment is to resume the construction of the power plant jointly with a strategic investor, on a market basis and without Bulgarian state guarantees.
By using this option Bulgaria could recover the costs incurred over the years since the start of the project and will ensure the country's energy security in the long term, the Bulgarian government has said.
Earlier this month, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) confirmed its interest in investing in the Belene NPP project.
Regarding the financial expenses related to the project, prime minister Boyko Borissov and energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova have stressed on several occasions that Bulgaria will only participate in the project company via a non-monetary contribution - the reactors and other equipment plus the construction site and the licences.
($=0.8536 euro)