December 6 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria’s National Electricity Company (NEK) will pay 601.6 million euro ($646.24 million) to Atomstroyexport by the end of the week as compensation for the equipment manufactured by the Russian company for the scrapped Belene nuclear power plant project, the energy ministry in Sofia said on Tuesday.
"After the Ministry of Enegry transferred the sum to NEK today, the company will make the payment awarded in the arbitration case. The sum will be paid into Atomstroyexport's account by the end of the week," the Energy Ministry said in a press release.
The compensation was awarded to Atomstroyexport by the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva earlier this year. The court ruled that NEK must pay 601.6 million euro to Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, as compensation for ditching the project for the construction of a 2,000-MW nuclear power plant in Belene, on the Danube river.
The two companies signed an agreement on October 26, under which NEK has to pay the full amount due on or before December 25.
Under the agreement, if NEK pays the sum in full on or before December 15, 2016, Atomstroyexport will withdraw its claim to receive 23.8 million euro in interest on the sum accumulated since the court issued its ruling on June 14.
After making the payment, the company will take possession of the equipment.
On Tuesday, outgoing prime minister Boyko Borissov reiterated Bulgaria's interest in implementing the Belene project on a market basis, without government investment and without long-term power purchasing contracts, at a meeting with officials of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) in Sofia.
At the meeting, attended by energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova, the CNNC representatives expressed their readiness to participate in the implementation of the Belene project under such conditions, the government said in a press release on Tuesday.
($ = 0.9309 euro)