Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation expects from Bulgaria $696 mln for the damage caused by the termination of the joint project for the construction of the Belene NPP, the corporation reported on September 10, 2016.
In 2006 Rosatom won an international tender on constructing 2 units of the Belene NPP, but the project was frozen in 2009 after the new government headed by Boyko Borisov had come to power.
Bulgaria abandoned the project in 2012 due to financial constraints and concerns in Brussels and Washington over its energy dependence on Russia.
«The Russian party insists that the decision of the arbitration court be implemented soonest,» Rosatom said in a statement following a meeting with Bulgarian energy officials over the issue in Sofia on September 9, 2016.
A Geneva-based court under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled on June 16, 2016, that Bulgaria must pay € 550 mln to Rosatom, for the nuclear reactor the russian company has already produced.
Bulgaria´s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated at university meeting of the youth organisation of GERB that Bulgaria should pay the money due for Belene immediately.
In his opinion, it is no longer an issue whether construction would be profitable or not. The issue now is to pay back the amount due and avoid the 167,000 Euro daily interest.
According to Borisov, «It is the right decision to pay immediately. We have two reactors. We pay for the two reactors with 557 million Euro. Without paying, we cannot move forward in any direction. We have to pay.»
«Before we talk about the fate of the Russian reactors intended for Belene, Bulgaria has to pay,”» also stated Bulgaria´s Vice Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev.
Russia expects Bulgarian authorities to send information about the deadlines for paying the money for the project.
