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Bulgarian Energy Ministry allocates €602 mln for repayment of Belene plant debt to Russia

Bulgaria and Russia signed agreement on settlement of the debt for the Belene nuclear power plant project on October 26

SOFIA, December 6. /TASS/. Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry allocated 601.6 mln euro to national energy company NEK for repayment of the debt for Belene nuclear power plant (NPP), press center of the Ministry said on Tuesday.

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Bulgaria and Russia sign agreement to settle debt on Belene NPP project — minister

"The Ministry of Energy will transfer the amount of 601.6 mln euro to NEK and the company will repay the debt in connection with the international arbitration court’s decision on Belene NPP project. The amount will be credited at the account of Russia’s Atomstroiexport by the end of this week," the Ministry said.

In June 2016, the International Court of Arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce in June ruled to compensate Russia’s Atomstroiexport (an engineering company of Russia’s state-run nuclear concern Rosatom) for its losses worth 620 million euros over the termination of the Belene project.

Bulgaria and Russia have signed agreement on settlement of the debt for the Belene nuclear power plant project in compliance with the decision of the international arbitration court in Geneva, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on October 26.

In 2006, NEK signed a contract with Atomstroiexport to build the Belene nuclear power plant with the capacity of 2 GW. In March 2012, Sofia abandoned plans to build the plant.

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