Share :

Download PDF :

TASS (19 August 2019)

Rosatom submitted a bid in the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) construction project in Bulgaria, the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation says on Monday.

"The Rosatom State Corporation presented a bid for participation in the procedure as part of the procedure to select the strategic investor for the Belene NPP project (Bulgaria) announced on May 22, 2019. The National Electricity Company (NEK) of Bulgaria successfully accepted the bid," Rosatom says.

The procedure on selection of the strategic investor for the Belene NPP project was posted on May 22, 2019 in the official journal of the European Union. The procedure will be closed in twelve months from the publication date.

Rosatom maintains plans to independently participate in the tender for construction of Belene NPP, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian nuclear corporation Alexei Likhachev told reporters in June 2019.

In 2006, Atomstroyexport (an affiliate of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom) won an international tender for the construction of two power units at the Belene plant. The required equipment was delivered to the site, but in 2009 the project was halted. In March 2012, Sofia abandoned plans to build a two-unit Belene nuclear power plant with capacity of 2 GW. The government of Bulgaria, which at that time was headed by current Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, announced the termination of the project.

On May 12, 2018, Borisov said that the country intends to resume the construction of the nuclear power plant.

Sofia stressed that a strategic investor for the project will be chosen through on a competitive basis. Bulgaria’s main requirements for the resumption of the project include construction on market conditions, without state guarantees and without guarantees of the acquisition of electricity generated by NPP. The cost of construction should not exceed 10 bln euros, and it should be commissioned in 10 years.

https://tass.com/economy/1074009