Russia, Bulgaria agree to wait on HSBC review of Belene nuke
Bulgaria and Russia will decide on the future of the planned nuclear power plant at Belene after the consultant on the project, UK bank HSBC, completes its review of the project and after the completion of the Europe-wide nuclear stress tests, Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov and Russian energy minister Sergey Shmatko have agreed.Traikov and Shmatko attended the presentation of the South Stream gas project, another joint project in the energy sector where Sofia and Moscow are yet to finalise talks, in Brussels on May 25 2011.Bulgaria's state-owned electricity utility NEK and Russian contractor Atomstroyexport signed in April the latest in a series of contract annexes delaying the start of construction, but this particular one also stated that the two sides had to reach a binding decision on the Belene project by June 2. (Source: The Sofia Echo)