RUSSIA TO HELP BULGARIA FIND SHAREHOLDERS FOR BELENE NUCLEAR PLANT

Russia has pledged to help Bulgaria find potential shareholders for the project company that will build and operate the Belene nuclear power station, Atomstroyexport, the Russian contractor for the plant, said on July 4 2011.

The announcement came three days after Atomstroyexport and Bulgaria's state-owned power utility NEK agreed to delay until September 30 the negotiations on the plant's construction and its price.

Despite the three-month delay, Russia will continue discussions on the project, although Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov had said that Sofia would seek to freeze talks on Belene during the period, Atomstroyexport said.

The Russian company also said it was committed to assisting NEK in the creation of a working group that would seek to solve the problems with the project's financing.

In late 2010, Atomstroyexport's parent company, state nuclear corporation Rosatom, helped Bulgaria secure the two current foreign investors in the Belene project. Finland's major utility Fortum Corp and French technology consultancy Altran Technologies then agreed to get stakes of one per cent each in the project, with Fortum securing an option to increase its holding to 25 per cent.

A stake of 51 per cent in the plant will be controlled by NEK, while the remainder will be owned by Rosatom unless other shareholders can be found.