Rosatom Hopes New Unit Of Bulgaria NPP To Be Built By Consortium With Russia Participation

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2021) Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said it was highly likely a new nuclear power unit in Bulgaria - either for the new Belene Nuclear Power Plant, or for the country's NPP Kozloduy - would be built by a consortium with the participation of Russia and European companies.

In January, the Bulgarian government approved a plan to use reactors intended for the construction of the Belene NPP to expand the existing Kozloduy plant. Later, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said the Bulgarian parliament should decide whether to build Belene or complete Kozloduy.

"We will be absolutely customer-oriented. And I can express confidence that no matter what format of further development the government of Bulgaria chooses, it is possible with great probability to reason and be sure that the construction of a new unit in Bulgaria will be carried out according to the Russian design, that our proposal will be chosen," Likhachev said on Rossiya 24 television.

"Obviously, we will do that in a consortium with European suppliers. But here, in this case, the ball is in the Bulgarian government's court," he said.