/ world today news/ A possible appeal of the arbitration decision in the case between “Atomstroyexport” and NEK for the “Belene” NPP would have little chance of success and would ultimately cost our country even more money, believes the “White and Case” law firm.
“An appeal usually involves certain costs and the risk of having to pay the other parties’ costs in the event of a loss. Furthermore, interest would continue to accrue during the appeal proceedings. The grounds for appealing an arbitration award under Swiss law are very limited In addition, Swiss courts rarely recognize appeals,” the lawyers say. Based on this, the Bulgarian side is abandoning the appeal.
We remind you that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov previously assigned the Minister of Energy Temenuzka Petkova to request a written opinion from “White and Сase”. It must state the reasons regarding the possibility or impossibility of appealing the decision of the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva in the case between “NEK” EAD and “Atomstroyexport” in connection with the “Belene” project. The opinion will be provided to the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly.
“White and Case” is the international law firm that represented NEK’s interests before the International Court of Arbitration.
On September 16, Bulgaria undertook to pay Russia 400 million euros for the Belene NPP. This became clear after the meeting of the Bulgarian-Russian intergovernmental commission for economic and scientific-technical cooperation.
On September 27, a telephone conversation was held between President Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. In it, the Bulgarian Prime Minister informed the master of the Kremlin that the Bulgarian government had taken concrete steps to pay off the obligations of NEK to Atomstroyexport, which as of 19.09.2016 amounted to 628 million euros, including the principal amount, legal costs and interest.
On September 28, the people’s representatives finally approved the draft law on providing aid for the repayment of NEK’s debts in the amount of BGN 1 billion and 270 million. This money must be used to repay the company’s debts to the Russian side.
The Belene Saga
The Belene NPP project began in the last years of socialism, and only the collapse of the old system stopped its construction for an indefinite period of time. In 2006, a tender was held, which was won by the Russian “Atomstroyexport”, a subsidiary of the state corporation “Rosatom”. The base price of the future second nuclear power plant was just under 4 billion euros. For the construction of the plant, a project company was created between NEK and the German RWE.
In the summer of 2009, the project began to slip. This became the reason for the withdrawal of RWE in the autumn of the same year. Rosatom, convinced that the project is profitable, offered the Bulgarian side financing. They also brought foreign investors in the form of Finnish “Fortum” and French “Altran”, thereby fulfilling one of the requests of the first Borisov cabinet to find a foreign, non-Russian investor.
However, the project was frozen in March 2012 by the government of Boyko Borisov. At the beginning of September of the same year, “Atomstroyexport” filed a lawsuit against NEK for 1 billion euros for unpaid activities already carried out on the “Belene” project. The amount was subsequently increased.
On June 16, 2016, the Arbitration Court at the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva ruled in favor of “Atomstroyexport” in its dispute with NEK. The court ruled that the damages of “Atomstroyexport” should be compensated with 620 million euros.
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