site.btaBulgarian Companies Have Not Spent Single Euro Cent on Purchase of Private Plots of Land at Kozloduy NPP Site, Energy Minister Says

Not a single euro cent has been spent by Bulgarian companies on the purchase of private plots of land at the site of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, outgoing Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov said on Friday in Veliko Tarnovo during a meeting with GERB mayors from northern Bulgaria, broadcast live on GERB leader Boyko Borissov's Facebook profile.

During the regular parliamentary control in December, Radoslav Ribarski, MP from Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, stated that they had received documents for a planned purchase and sale of a plot of land in the immediate vicinity of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant for the construction of new facilities. He added that the problem lies in the way it is being done and the price of EUR 100 million excluding VAT, which he described as outrageous. "This deal has been concluded in secret over the last few months and is about to end with the plundering of state-owned companies," Ribarski said at the time.

Stankov announced that he had ordered an investigation into the case and that the results had been reported to him Friday morning. "I sent a letter this morning ordering the companies to proceed with the expropriation procedure for the acquisition of any plots of land on the site of the Kozloduy NPP that are not currently our property, and there are 20 of them," Stankov added. According to him, with the entry into force on January 8 of the detailed development plan for the Kozloduy NPP site, none of the plots there can be used for anything other than the construction of Units 7 and 8. Stankov also pointed out that before January 8, it was not possible to proceed with the expropriation, "but now, with this document, it can be done without any problems". 

"The political smoke screen that occurred before the New Year holidays misled the owners of these 20 plots of land on the site into thinking that they might receive huge sums of money for their property," Stankov added. He pointed out that the deadlines for appealing the detailed development plan had been missed. "We now have all the tools we need to proceed with the expropriation of these properties for the benefit of Bulgarian companies," the outgoing minister stated.

Stankov also commented that a decarbonization fund has been established, which, in his words, corrects an injustice that has deprived single-family buildings of access to renovation funds. The outgoing minister added that this concerns 50% of residential buildings in the country. The fund will initially have EUR 50 million at its disposal, which will come from funds that municipalities currently receive for replacing street lighting, again under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Stankov explained. According to him, this will achieve two goals with one set of funds: brighter and safer cities with fewer road accidents, as well as savings. "Money will be returned to the fund, which will not only allow us to continue renovating Bulgarian households, but they can also be used for photovoltaic panels on roofs, thereby reducing bills," Stankov added.