Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova left for Moscow on Thursday to meet with the management of the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, which, as owner of Atomstroyexport filed a claim against the National Electric Company (NEC) in June as a result of which the Court of Arbitration awarded it 620 million euro for the equipment manufactured for the aborted Belene NPP.

In short, what resulted from this visit was that the Bulgarian and the Russian side will be setting up a joint working group to look into possible options for the Belene project after the Court of Arbitration ruling. Herein lie the different shades of interpretation. According to the Ministry of Energy the experts are yet to look for a solution, ASAP, that would be viable for both sides. According to Rosatom’s First Deputy CEO Kirill Komarov however, the company is ready to discuss possible solutions with its Bulgarian partners, in accordance with the interests of the two sides, but only in the context of a debt reimbursement by the Bulgarian side as soon as possible and no later than the end of the year.

However, this stance by the Russian side excludes the option Bulgarians hold so dear to their hearts – a joint agreement on the sale of the equipment to a third party. To top it all, Minister Petkova explained to Kirill Komarov that this country was in daily communication with the European Commission over the approval of state aid to NEC in the form of an interest-free loan. The red tape involved will take at least two months, and in that time, the clock on the interest is ticking at a rate of 167,000 euro every day. That is the thorn in the side of Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev who stated it was essential to stop the clock on the interest from ticking, which would accumulate another 61 million within the space of a year. In Donchev’s words the country will seek an option that would mean building the Belene NPP by way of a privatization procedure. He says this intention has the approval of the Russian side. Be as it may, Bulgaria will still have to pay up the close to 630 million euro accumulated to date. That is how the Russians see it. Not like the Bulgarian side – offering to pay 400 million by the end of the year with two deferred payments next year. The clock on the interest due is ticking inexorably. Let us hope it can be heard in Brussels.

English version: Milena Daynova