Bulgaria to demand another €250 mln for the Kozloduy International Fund

“Bulgaria will present its demand for another €250 mln in compensations owed to the country because of the closure of the first four units of the nuclear power plant. The move is needed because of the delay in the absorption of the money from the Kozloduy International Fund,” announced Valentin Nikolov, Executive Director of the Kozloduy NPP during an international conference on nuclear energetics in Varna.

“This will happen today in London at the headquarters of the Fund.” According to Nikolov, the claim is being made in relation to the report submitted by a Romanian MEP in the European Parliament, containing a request for the suspension of the financial compensations for Bulgaria after 2014. The funds are provided to the country for the implementation of energy efficiency projects, whose primary purpose is to reduce the energy-intensity of Bulgarian production.

The value of the initial projects is about €44 mln. There are projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the lighting systems of several major cities - Plovdiv, Bourgas and Stara Zagora. The funds needed for this measure are €4.120 mln. The energy efficiency of public buildings in many medium-sized and small municipalities will be improved as well under a project worth €14 mln. Over 15 mln will be allocated for improving the energy efficiency of state institutions, of Sofia University and the hospitals in the capital. The lighting systems in the towns of Kyustendil, Chepelare, Dobrich and others will be replaced with more modern, energy efficient ones. The estimated value of this project is €11 mln.

“Besides these projects, some €100 mln from the EBRD will be allocated for finishing the construction of the network of Bulgartransgaz and for the acquisition of a special excavator for the Maritsa Iztok Complex,” said Nikolov.

“By October, the tenders under all five measures must be conducted and contractors selected,” said Nikolov. The implementation of all these projects should start at the beginning of 2013.