Belene NPP Implies Hidden Risks for Both Russia and Bulgaria- Experts
Ruslan Stefanov, an expert at the Sofia-based think-tank Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) has highlighted the inevitability of resorting to a non-market based financing mechanism for the Belene NPP project.
Stefanov gave an interview Tuesday for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on the occasion of the round table "Nuclear Energy After Fukushima. The Challenges to Bulgaria" organized by CSD.
"It has long been clear to us that Belene NPP will be very hard to implement without any sort of state guarantees", Stefanov pointed out, adding that this assumption was confirmed after the withdrawal of private investor RWE.
"The project has used up too much funding, it has gotten off to a very bad start and it is very difficult to correct it and re-orient it to some sort of private basis", the expert concluded.
Commenting on Tuesday's session of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), which is to shed light on electricity and heating tariffs for Q3 2011, Stefanov said that the movement of electricity prices is a taboo topic for politicians in Bulgaria and the rest of Europe. (Source: Sofia News Agency)