Asked Thursday in an interview in the Standart newspaper if Bulgaria were seeking new private investors to enter the Belene project, Traikov replied: "Yes."

Bulgaria's state-owned electricity utility NEK currently holds a 51-percent share in the project, while German utility RWE holds the rest 49 percent.

Traikov had earlier said the government was ready to cut its share as low as 20 percent in order to reduce state costs for the project.

Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko meanwhile told state BNT television in an interview Thursday that Russia was "interested in principle in the proposition (to buy part of Bulgaria's stake in the plant)" to be built by Russian company Atomstroyexport.

Shmatko and the president of the Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom Sergey Kirienko are due to discuss the issue during talks with Traikov on Friday in Sofia.

Bulgaria and Atomstroyexport signed an initial 4.0-billion-euro (5.9-billion-dollar) deal for the plant last January but failure to find funding severely delayed construction.

Atomstroyexport officials meanwhile disclosed that the cost of construction for Belene's two 1,000-megawatt reactors had risen to 6.0 billion euros while Traikov put the price for the plant and its adjacent infrastructure at between 9.0 and 10 billion euros.

If Bulgaria decided to drop the project altogether it would have to pay an 800-million-euro forfeit to the Russian builder, Traykov told Standart.

"We do not need such a big new (nuclear power) plant ... Bulgaria's financial resources can instead go to improving energy efficiency," Traikov added.

But Shmatko said Thursday that he was "confident (that he would) find arguments convincing the new Bulgarian government to form a positive attitude to the common energy projects."

Bulgaria had already said it was willing to join the Russia-backed South Stream pipeline to channel Russian gas to Europe under the Black Sea. The government is also currently reviewing its participation in another Russian project, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline to link the Black Sea to the Aegean.

The two projects are also expected to be discussed during talks in Sofia Friday.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News