/ world today news/ Bulgaria must allocate more money from its budget to cover the final shutdown of the four units of the Kozloduy NPP, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors. It covers the costs of closing the Soviet reactors in our country, in Lithuania and Slovakia.
The European aid of almost 3 billion euros is not enough, and therefore the three countries must set aside more of their own funds to safely shut down the capacities at the Kozloduy, Ignalina and Bohunice nuclear power plants, according to the auditors. The abandonment of these reactors was one of the conditions for joining the EU.
Since there are accounting criticisms of the 3 countries for the general planning of the necessary expenses, the Audit Chamber makes its calculation, according to which the payments may double and reach 11.4 billion euros.
According to the forecast, EUR 1.59 billion will be spent on decommissioning the Kozloduy NPP reactors. If the costs associated with the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel are included, the bill will swell to 2.697 billion. For the current budget period, Bulgaria uses 731 million euros from the EU, and according to the auditors’ calculation, for the full completion of the activities, they do not reach more than 1.6 billion.
Lithuania spends the most on projects, followed by Slovakia. Among the reasons are a lack of expert staff, inflation, poor planning and delays in a number of important infrastructure projects.
The Audit Chamber recommends that after 2020 Brussels to stop the support programs for the three countries, and Sofia and the others to start paying more from next year.
Co-financing gives recipients a greater incentive to seek the best value for money and to make progress on programs, the report said.
It cited an international convention according to which Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia must comply with the “polluter pays” principle, which means that producers of waste should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health and the environment.
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