Iordan Kostadinov, former Head of Kozloduy NPP: EU will not allow us to delay the decommissioning of the TPPs

Georgi Velev

Mr. Kostadinov, do you think the proposal of the Russian company Transneft to finance the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline is favourable?
 - Funds are not the most important thing for a project. This is a strategic project which has both an economic and political aspect. The main question is - what do we seek to achieve with respect to our economy and politics by focusing on this project. I have always said that this is a European project being more at the service of the EU than of Bulgaria. You know what is its purpose. In this case, I am not talking about environmental assessments that are absolutely mandatory. Currently, we have no specific policy on our energy projects. We are not pursuing any  particular objective neither with the Burgas-Alexandroupolis and the South Stream gas pipeline, nor with the Belene NPP project. This is something that bothers me and I am not quite satisfied with the fact. If everything depended on me, I would advertise that this project is in support of the EU. If anything happens to the straits in Turkey, then this will be the pipeline for transfer of oil from Russia to the EU. And being engaged in an EU project, we should seek economic benefits for our country - either by agreeing with the Russian side or otherwise.

Russia offered no transport charges for the tube to be imposed but a dividend from the profits of the project to be paid? Is this not embarrassing?
  - According to me, the very pipeline must somehow guarantee the security of the supplies for our country. Thus, under some certain circumstances we could require part of the oil that will pass through the tube to remain for us. This will be good for the country because future problems in the supply of oil are likely to appear. Especially, when knowing that this energy source has been almost exhausted.

According to Nabucco consultant Joschka Fischer, the Russian South Stream gas pipeline is not in the interest of Europe. Do you agree with this statement?
  - I do not think the EU does not need the project. On the contrary, a few more similar conduits will be necessary for Europe to meet the needs of gas on the continent. Natural gas consumption is growing annually by 2-3 percent and gas pipelines, such as South Stream and Nabucco, are needed. The deposits in the North Sea have depleted and if Europe wants to have a stable energy supply, it needs multiple suppliers. Russia considers each project from both the economic and political aspects. It is certainly aware that South Stream is quite a hard project for Gazprom that may drag the company to the bottom at any time. But it is an extremely important political project for Russia. Europe, however, including Bulgaria, can take an advantage of this political project. I think the gas pipeline is necessary for the community.

Do you know if there has been any development in the negotiations with Russia for signing a new contract for gas supply to Bulgaria?
 - I have no information about the gas negotiations, but I think the outcome is already known. The Russian side will certainly do what it intends to. At the beginning, the price decrease of natural gas was estimated at some 20-30%, then the reduction became about 3-5%, and the present forecasts are even for an increase of the gas prices. Regretfully, the price rise is absolutely certain. Talking about a price reduction is an absolute demagogy. 

Can we expect then the price of the blue fuel to be raised before winter?
 - I think the gas company Bulgargaz has already announced this. There might be temporary intervals between the price hikes, but the prices of energy sources will be generally on the rise. Everybody should be aware of this. It will be very difficult to even maintain the current levels.

Do you think the problem with the decommissioning of big thermoelectric power plants (TPP), such as Brikel TPP, Varna TPP and Bobov Dol TPP, due to environmental requirements could be solved?
 - This is a very old issue. It was known that we would have to decommission these plants even when Bulgaria signed the EU-accession treaty. The matter has been widely discussed in the last two National Assemblies. The end of 2015 has been set as the deadline for the operation of these plants. They must be decommissioned unless they are modernised. Concerning the negotiations with the EU for postponing the plants' decommissioning - I can say that we will not be allowed any extension of the deadline. Europe is extremely sensitive to pollution, so if our country is permitted an exception like this, all the other EU countries in Eastern Europe will follow suit. I would like it if our talks yield a result, but I doubt we will get an extension of the deadline.