The former director, Valentin Nikolov, of the Bulgarian Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant specified already in May this year that the Ukrainians are interested because very few countries in the world are already building such reactors.
Ukraine has two units almost fully built, lacking only the long-cycle production equipment that Bulgaria has, purchased from Russia. Thus, Ukraine is the only buyer in the world for Bulgarian equipment, and Bulgaria is the only seller for them.
“Information has come out that Ukraine is interested in buying our reactors for the Belene NPP, which are in storage. The Ukrainians are interested because very few countries in the world are already making such reactors”. This was stated by Valentin Nikolov, former head of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, to NOVA NEWS.
“The Ukrainians have many factories that manufacture equipment based on Russian technologies, they have experience with Russian technologies. This is an option to build their missing capacities, because the Zaporizhzhia NPP is under Russian control,” explained the former director of the Kozloduy NPP.
GERB-SDS MP Delyan Dobrev announced on Facebook on July 4 that a decision was submitted to the National Assembly, which mandates the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev to conduct negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of the equipment for the Belene NPP.
Dobrev emphasized that after the start of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, the Belene NPP project is finally doomed.
“I have just submitted with my colleagues a Decision of the National Assembly to instruct the Minister of Energy to conduct negotiations with Ukraine on the sale of the equipment for Belene. The price is subject to negotiation, but it cannot be lower than what Bulgaria paid for the equipment in question – almost BGN 1.2 billion,” said the GERB deputy and former energy minister.
As of 2020, the “Belene” NPP project has been stopped again, but it continues to swallow costs – for conservation and maintenance of the equipment and for security – of several million BGN per year. The equipment for the nuclear island of the project, worth BGN 1.2 billion, which was brought to our country in 2017, after the Russian “Atomstroyexport” condemned the “National Electric Company” (NEK) to pay it for the ordered components.
Photo: Belene Nuclear Power Plant
