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Rosatom plans to bid for tender for construction of Belene NPP in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said that resumption of the project to construct the Belene Nuclear Power Plant envisions Russia's participation

SOCHI. May 22. /TASS/. Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom plans to bid for a tender for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria and is waiting for the decision of the country's parliament, Alexei Likhachev, head of Rosatom, said in Sochi.

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"We all are expecting the decision of the Bulgarian parliament. It was the parliament that decided to halt the construction of the plant in 2012, respectively, it is the parliament that should cancel this moratorium," Likhachev said.

"We do not know what economic model the Bulgarian side will propose for completion of the project ... Rosatom will participate in it anyway," he added.

On Monday, at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said that resumption of the project to construct the Belene Nuclear Power Plant envisions Russia's participation.

Besides Rosatom, the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is interested in the Belene project.

Rosatom’s first deputy head Kirill Komarov said last week that Russia’s state nuclear corporation is ready to help Bulgaria carry out the project.

Sofia abandoned plans to build a two-unit Belene nuclear power plant with capacity of 2 GW in March 2012.

The government of Bulgaria, which at that time was headed by current Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, announced the termination of the project.

On May 12, 2018, Borisov said that the country intends to resume the construction of the nuclear power plant.

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