OREANDA-NEWS. September 21, 2009. Russian companies are ready to bid for a stake in Belene Nuclear Power Plant, Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko said after negotiations in Bulgaria.
 
Representative of Rosatom Sergey Novikov quotes him as saying that

“Minister of Economy and Energy of Bulgaria Traicho Traikov said that the Bulgarian Government will analyze the situation and will decide how much it will retain and how much it will give to investors. Russian companies have also been invited to take part in the tender. We are interested in this project as we are absolutely sure that it will pay off,” Kiriyenko said.

The payback period of the project has been calculated in the current prices, while after 2015–2016, when the 1st unit of the plant will be launched, the price of one KWh in the Balkan region will be higher than it is today. “We have agreed on further action and will start the work without delay,” Kiriyenko said.

“The main thing is that during the meetings with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov, we received confirmation that there are no political obstacles to the construction of Belene NPP. Even more, there is political will to carry this project out,” Kiriyenko said.

He pointed out that the Bulgarian population also supported the project. “The Bulgarian party said that the project had no technical problems and met all the terms set by the owner. The only problem is financing. We understand that it is not easy to finance 51% of a project in the face of a crisis. So, the wish of the Bulgarian Government to specify financial and legal aspects of the project is quite natural. But we also see that our colleagues not only want to get information but know what they will have to do next,” Kiriyenko said.

The general contractor of Belene NPP project (two 1GW reactors) is Atomstroyexport. Earlier the Bulgarian authorities gave 49% to German RWE.  The controlling interest will remain in the hands of the state.