Bulgaria PM Warns Belene Plans Could Be Scrapped

"We will play the cat and mouse game with the Russians," Borisov declared on Tuesday, referring to the fact that the inflation index is yet to be agreed on. He stated he wanted to know if this index will end up being €0.5 million or €2.5 million, and blamed President Georgi Parvanov for keeping quiet on the issue, despite the fact he had been the negotiating party at the time.

"€2.5 million could have been the highest inflation index. It is possible some payments were made under it," the PM pointed out, adding if Russia wants to be a loyal partner it must ask for no more than €0.5 million to €1 billion.

"Bulgaria cannot be made to pay 4-5 billion over what there is in the state budget, as Russia is asking. If we must pay a price of €8-9 billion for the Belene NPP – I will not pay it! Who ever comes after me, they can do it, if they wish.

"Are we going to lose 200 million or 2.5 billion – this is the question. What funds do we have left then for construction, for providing a better life to Bulgarian citizens – money for pensions, education, increase of wages, infrastructure?" Borisov stated and appealed to the Russian side to say once and for all how much Belene would cost.

In the beginning of December, the CEO of Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, announced a price of €6.3 billion for the nuclear plant, prompting Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov to declare at this price Russia must wait for another government to carry out the project.

On Monday, the French daily La Tribune wrote that the Russian state energy company Rosatom may drop its project to build the Belene plant.

Meanwhile, the contractor "Atomstroyexport" has sent a letter to Rosatom insisting the latter must file a claim against the Bulgarian National Electric Company (NEK) over its failure to fulfill contracts for the building of the NPP.

Traikov said Tuesday that he did not expect the Russians to withdraw, explaining the information came from foreign media and was, most likely, unconfirmed.