“We aim to make the Belene NPP project attractive to a big European Investor,” Bulgarian Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said at a conference on the new Bulgarian energy strategy. At the end of the last week Russia offered to invest 2 billion euro in the construction of the nuclear power plant until a strategic investor is found. “In order to use the Russian financing, we must reach an agreement with our EU partners,” Minister Traikov commented. Bulgarian Minister of Finance, Simeon Djankov also pointed out that the project would continue only with a European investor. Without a strategic investor, Bulgaria will insist for a major share in the plant, as Russia will get no more than 20% share in the project.
“The plan we are about to offer to the Russian part envisages that both Bulgaria and Russia are interested in finding a strategic investor,” Mr Traikov said. “ It is a priority for us and there is no doubt it is a priority for the Russian part too. We must make the project attractive to foreign investors. We are devising a strategy that is to guarantee that Bulgaria will not get less than 50% share in the plant. If we don’t manage to find a strategic investor, the worst scenario will be Bulgaria and Russia holding 50 % of the plant each. But we are to demand that the Russian part does not get more than 15-20 percent in the plant as part of the loan will be paid through selling electricity, produced in the plant. That is why Bulgaria and Russia aim to make the project attractive for western investors.”
During the energy strategy conference, experts pointed out that due to the crisis, the energy market opportunities must be reassessed. The energy market must also be liberalized and one of the ways to do it is through the creation of energy stock market. Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said that experts from Norway would help Bulgaria to create an energy stock market.
According to Florian Fichtl, the World Bank representative for Bulgaria, old technologies and the high energy consumption are problems for Bulgaria. Bulgaria is the most energy-inefficient country in the EU. The spokesman of the consortium responsible for the Nabucco Gas Pipeline project, Christian Dolezal, was also present at the conference. He said construction of the pipeline would start in 2011 and if there are no delays, the deliveries of gas to Europe will start in 2013. The three sources of gas for the pipeline will be the Kurdish regions of Iraq, as well as Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. Mr Dolezal said that in the long term demand for natural gas would increase.
“The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest investor in Bulgarian energy projects,” Milko Kovachev, advisor to the bank, said. “The institution has invested 500 million euro in energy efficiency projects and sustainable energy sources. Together with private investments, the total sum is over 2.6 billion euro,” Kovachev pointed out. In 2010 the EBRD will invest 71 million euro in the construction of a wind power complex in Bulgaria. The bank is also involved in projects for energy security, such as increasing the capacity of the gas storage facility near the village of Chiren. The participation of the bank in the construction of new gas storage facilities is also being discussed.
The Bulgarian Energy Efficiency Agency said that Bulgaria aims at improving its energy efficiency by 2020 by investing 150-200 million euro for reconstruction of public buildings annually. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, the energy efficiency strategy can reduce the green house gas emissions by 25%.
English: Alexander Markov
