When pragmatism is lacking – View Info –

/ world today news/ The Russian side presented the Bulgarian rulers with a clear lesson on how to do big business in the energy sector. Atomstroyexport’s claim for $1 billion came as a bolt from the blue for the presumptuous prime minister, whose advisers and experts were clearly unprepared for the serious test ahead.

The claim is so big, and Russia’s arguments are so solid, that the legal dispute could lead to the bankruptcy of the National Electric Company of Bulgaria. The Russian subcontractors have already finished work on the shell of one of the reactors and the devices inside it. In addition, a number of tests were carried out, systems for cooling the active zone, steam generators and other equipment were made. Most of this equipment was accepted by a joint Bulgarian-Russian commission, but it is still in the warehouses of Russian enterprises, as NEK refuses to accept it. Unfortunately, the government demonstrated ineptitude and reacted at the first signal without measuring its words, as was the case with Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Dankov, who uttered the stupid phrase “we will slap the Russians again”. ” is extremely important for Bulgarian energy and it is normal to have political dimensions. But turning it into a tool for “tightening party ranks” or preparing for elections is absurd. The claims that there is no need for “Belene” are untenable, and if they are not malicious, they are at least naive, he pointed out.

In his turn, the former Minister of Energy Stoyan Ovcharov again reminded the rulers that “when you ordered equipment, when you paid an advance for it, when it was produced, it is natural to pay”. And one more thing – when the project is not implemented, all costs remain at the expense of the one who started it – in this case, it is the National Electric Company.

In the broad public discussion on the topic, the former director of the Kozloduy NPP and now energy expert Prof. Yanko Yanev. He stated that incredible things were being said that would have political consequences. “We have been operating Russian nuclear technology for 35 years. We intend to extend the life of the units at Kozloduy for more than 20 years, we intend to build another unit at Kozloduy, which is a phantasmagoria, by the way, and we are pursuing an aggressive policy with our main partner in nuclear energy. No one from the government has said in recent days how we will develop Bulgaria’s nuclear program in the future,” the energy expert emphasized.

Another energy expert – Valentin Stoyanov made a specific prediction on the national radio. “There are two options for the Belene NPP, he said. The first is a case lasting several years with an unclear outcome. Bulgaria recently lost a case for BTC in Paris, which the Privatization Agency brought It is similar to “Belene” because we have different options. This first option has two options more or less. The options in any case are that Bulgaria has to pay”. The second option, according to Stoyanov, is the termination of the case with the withdrawal of the Russian side’s claims. One is the political way, if everything is related to “South Stream” and Bulgaria makes the concessions requested by Russia, it is possible that it will withdraw its claim. But this is an unfavorable option for Bulgaria, because when we make concessions, we obviously lose something, he concludes.

Today, it is more than obvious that the Bulgarian side is not in order from a legal point of view. It has signed binding documents with “Atomeksportstroy”. The first is the agreement of November 29, 2006. with which Bulgaria undertakes to pay 200 million euros for preparatory works before the final contract is concluded and the final deadlines are set. In this agreement, both parties undertake to sign a final contract with the final price and escalation indices within the next 12 months. However, this does not happen. In November 2008 Addendum number 5 was signed, with which NEK orders equipment for 670 million euros and is obliged to pay 230 million of them. The Russian side will refer to these documents in court. The Bulgarian government has not named the specific arguments it has to defend. And so, in the end, the outcome of the difficult dispute will depend on what the law office “White and Case” will decide, which has a high reputation and which will certainly not accept the political arguments to which Boyko Borisov resorts in vain.