Bulgaria has time until the spring to decide on its participation in the Belene Nuclear Power Plant and sign a contract with Russia for the creation of a project campaign, Sergey Kiriyenko, CEO of the Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, said in Moscow.
Kiriyenko told Bulgarian media that if the deadline is not met, the contractor on the project, Atomstroyexport, will redirect the equipment for the Belene NPP to another nuclear project and Russia will refuse to become a shareholder in the Bulgarian plant.
In his words, during the official visit of the Russian PM Vladimir Putin in Sofia, Moscow has demanded to have about 30-40% stake in the project and would not agree on less than 25%.
Kiriyenko has stated that there was still a chance that Belene NPP is not realized.
"Russia will not lower the Belene NPP price to EUR 5 B, as demanded by the Bulgarian government," the Rosatom CEO said.