Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, who answered questions from media and the public live on the Council of Ministers' Facebook page on Thursday morning, reported that the proposed sale to Ukraine of the equipment purchased for the Belene NPP will be the subject of negotiations. Denkov said that a memorandum of cooperation in the field of energy will be signed later Thursday, with several points of the document that will be dedicated to nuclear energy.
Denkov confirmed that Ukraine made an offer to buy equipment that was intended for the Belene NPP. He added: "It transpired that after the initial interest, our caretaker government did not advance the issue diplomatically". Denkov said that the current government raised the issue through the Energy Minister Rumen Radev and added: "It appears that there is real interest, and this will be the subject of negotiations which have already begun and will continue in the coming months".
The Prime Minister said that the construction of the 7th and 8th units of Kozloduy NPP is included in the government's plans, however, the energy strategy should be updated, because the current one is inadequate.
Denkov believes that the Belene NPP project is unnecessary and added: "I was most surprised by the statements of the former energy minister that for four additional units are needed. There are no such needs in our regions - there is a nuclear power plant in Romania, and additional units are being built in Turkiye. We need to stabilize our system with the necessary base capacities in the long term after the shutdown of Kozloduy units 5 and 6, but we also need to develop all other technologies that will make electricity cheaper, without the danger of radioactive contamination".
/DS/
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