The South Stream gas pipeline is project of high priority for Bulgaria, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has declared.

Borisov has pointed out the financial benefits of projects like South Stream that make use of his country’s geostrategic location.

He added that the money gathered by Bulgaria from this project will be used for “retirement pensions, salaries and asphalt,” the latter referring to ruling centrist-right GERB’s priority on the construction of highway.

The South Stream pipeline is intended to transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to Central and Southern Europe annually, diversifying Russian gas routes away from transit countries such as Ukraine.

The pipe will go from Russia to Bulgaria via the Black Sea; in Bulgaria it will split in two – with the northern leg going through Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia to Austria and Northern Italy, and the southern leg going through Greece to Southern Italy.

The preferential prices for purchasing energy from renewable sources will be reduced from July 1, 2012, according to Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Eater Regulation (DKEVR).

“Analysis is now underway, but energy prices will definitely drop, especially prices of energy generated by photovoltaic plants, because capital expenditures are also decreasing,” the DKEVR Chair explained Tuesday, without citing concrete figures.

He refused to comment on prices of natural gas in Q3, 2012, adding that the proposal of state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz was yet to be received.

Bulgargaz published Monday its Q3 2012 gas price forecast, noting that the US dollar exchange rate was supposed to be the only influence.

Bulgargaz argued that the 11% discount negotiated with Russian Gazprom had already been calculated into the tariff which entered into force on April 1, stressing that the company’s request for a gas price increase of 26% had been downsized to 13% at that point.

The state-owned gas supplier is to submit its Q3 2012 gas price request with DKEVRin one month.

Semerdzhiev further defined the appointment of DKEVR member Evgenia Haritonova as Deputy Energy Minister as a sign of recognition of the watchdog’s expertise.

He added that the energy watchdog was now looking to fill out its staff after Haritonova’s departure.

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Power distributor CEZ, which supplies electricity to Western Bulgaria, opened Thursday a photovoltaic plant in the northwestern village of Gara Oreshets nearVidin.

The photovoltaic facility occupies a territory of 100 decares and was built in the place of a defunct wood processing plant in the industrial zone of the village.

The unit absorbed investments of EUR 10 M and has a total installed capacity of approximately 5 MW.

The project was implemented in three months by German company Solea under the leadership of Continental Wind Partners.

According to initial calculations, the photovoltaic plant will generate 5762 MWh of green energy per year in the next 15 years, covering the electricity consumption of 3840 households.

Apart from the photovoltaic plant, CEZ will also invest over BGN 150 000 in the rehabilitation of the power grid and existing grid substation in the region.

The new facility will save around 6900 tons of carbon emissions per year.

According to Peter Dokladal, CEZ Regional Manager for Bulgaria, the project is a small step towards the achievement of the targeted 16% renewable energy share in total consumption by 2020.

The Oreshets photovoltaic plant is the first renewable energy investment of CEZin Bulgaria.

It was built in execution of CEZ‘ commitment to invest EUR 40 M in renewable energy projects in the country.

The reactor that is being built for the Belene NPP is 80% ready, according toValentin Nikolov, the new director of the Kozloduy.

Under current plans, the facility is to be moved from the Belene NPP, which will not be built, to the Kozloduy NPP as a seventh unit.

In a Thursday interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Nikolov stressed the importance of absolute transparency in the operations of the Kozloduy NPP and vowed not to make single-handed decisions and work as part of a team.

He explained he would not interfere in the work of the engineers and that he would propose Alexander Nikolov, former director of the Kozloduy NPP, for the post of a technical director.

Nikolov went on to remind that a program for extending the life of units 5 and 6 at the Kozloduy NPP was to be submitted with the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in four years’ time, so as not to miss the deadline for the license issuance.

In another interview for Darik radio, the new head of the Kozloduy NPP and former Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism explained that power prices could not be reduced at the moment but could only be kept at their current rates through certain measures.

“Reducing prices for end consumers is a pretty ambitious goal. I couldn’t commit myself to it. Prices are set by the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR).  The only way to keep the price adequate and prevent further increases is to build new capacities – Unit 7 of the Kozloduy NPP, two new units at the Maritsa Iztok-2 Thermal Power Plant and eventually, gas, that could reduce prices of natural gas in the country,” Nikolov declared.

He was adamant that the Kozloduy NPP was in excellent condition, adding that “one has to be an extraordinarily bad manager to run the Kozloduy NPP in a way which worsens its financial condition.”

Nikolov explained that he had been appointed to speed up the processes surrounding the extension of the life of units 5 and 6 at the Kozloduy NPP and the construction of unit 7.

The largest increase of prices of fuel in Europe in the first quarter of 2012 has been registered in Hungary (15.6%), Poland (15.1%) and Bulgaria (14.9%).

The data was published by the online information and analyses site “Neft Rosii” (Russian Oil).

The ranking has been made by experts from the Center for Economic Research “RIA-Analitika,” who have studied stats about 95 grade fuel in 32 countries.

The price analyses had been conducted in RUB, by converting local currencies using the rates of the Russian Central Bank.

Ukrainians are last by the amount of fuel they can purchase with an average monthly salary – 211 liters, followed by Bulgarians – 290 liters and Byelorussians – 380 liters. Romania and Lithuania are respectively 4th and 5th.

The highest fuel prices in Europe have been registered in Norway, followed by Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Fuel is cheapest in Belarus, followed by Kazakhstan, Russia, the Ukraine and Romania.

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A project company will be established within the next 10 days for the construction of Unit 7 at the country’s only existing nuclear power plant in the Danube town of Kozloduy, the country’s Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev said Monday.

Currently, a working group is developing a road map for the project. Once the working group has created a project company, the project company will start looking for a strategic investor.

The project company will have an initial capital of several millions of BGN, Dobrev has explained.

Bulgaria’s government recently decided to start the construction of a new reactor in Kozloduy after it gave up on the construction of what was supposed to be the country’s second nuclear power plant in Belene. Thus, the Bulgarian government decided to install in Kozloduy the 1000 MW reactor that the Russian state company Atomstroyexport already produced for the Belene NPP.

On Monday, Dobrev pointed out that the establishment of a project company will guarantee the Kozloduy NPP‘s safety and financial stability. He noted that a project company that would have been responsible for investment risks was not created when the Belene project was launched.

The Kozloduy NPP has started the first phase of the procedure to extend the life of its two 1000 MW reactors by 20 years.

After the installation of Unit 6, the newest one, in 1991, the Kozloduy NPP reached a total production capacity of 3 760 MW. Currently, however, the capacity of the plant is down to 2000 MW after Bulgaria shut down the 440 MW reactors 1-4 in 2002 and 2006 at the insistence of the EU as part of the country’s EU accession negotiations.

Unit 5‘s life is to end in 2037, and Unit 6‘s – in 2019, but these dates are to be pushed back by 20 years if the program is implemented successfully.

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov said that his cabinet will work toward and expects actually lowering the prices of fuels in the country.

“The government expects to further reduce the prices of fuels and has good arguments about that,” stated Borisov while on a visit to Plovdiv Sunday.

“Cabinet makes many efforts to reduce fuel prices, but in all cases, interests worth billions are involved in the game,” said the the Bulgarian PM.

He added that his government is in constant dialogue with Russia, the EU, andTurkey to insure a stable diversification of energy deliveries to Bulgaria.

Borisov explained that in the near future Minister of Economy and Energy Delyan Dobrev will be sent on a new visit to Moscow to negotiate about Russian gasdeliveries.

The Bulgarian PM however did not go into further detail about how he believes his cabinet will be able to reduce the prices of fuels in the country.

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The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office has started a procedure against two former CEOs of the Bulgarian National Electric Company NEK over the controversial project for a second Bulgarian nuclear power plant in Belene.

The two former CEOs of NEK Lyubomir Velkov and Mardik Papazyan are to be charged for incurring losses worth EUR 200 M under the contract for the construction of the Belene NPP between NEK and the Russian state companyAtomstroyexport.

The prosecutor’s procedure is started about a month after the center-right government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the GERB party decided to terminate the project for the construction of the Belene plant, a joint project withRussia, claiming that it is economically unfeasible for Bulgaria.

The report of the state financial inspectorate has concluded that there had been violations in the public procurement tender for the construction of the Belene NPP, including the signing of the former Stanishev Cabinet of a contract without holding a tender for some of the business activities for Belene.

Sofia Prosecutor told the bTV channel that in spite of the existing practice of staging investigations against unknown perpetrators until any guilt is established, in the case of the former NEK CEOs, the investigation will be personally focused on them.

The case will be handled by the Prosecutor’s special unit for high level corruption, and will be a priority of the Prosecutor’s Office, he said.

The Report of the State Agency for Financial Inspection has found that the violations in the contracts for the Belene plant were committed mostly during the term in office of the Stanishev Cabinet of the three-way coalition between 2005 and 2009, which is when Velkov and Papazyan were CEOs of Bulgaria’s National Electric Company NEK.

The construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant would have cost EUR 10.35 B in the best case scenario, according to the estimates of Bulgarian government’s consultant for the project, the HSBC bank.

The 2006 contract that Bulgaria’s Stanishev Cabinet signed with Atomstroyexportfor the construction of the Belene NPP was for EUR 3.997 B . Subsequently, however, it became clear that the final price would be higher, which led to years of haggling and seeking of “strategic investors” by the Bulgarian government of Borisov.

At one point Rosatom put the price of the construction of the 2000 MW plant at EUR 6.3 B, while Bulgaria insisted on EUR 5 B. The Borisov Cabinet terminated the project regardless of the Russian compensation claims in March 2012, arguing that it was “economically unfeasible” for Bulgaria.

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Bulgaria’s only operational nuclear power plant in the Danube town of Kozloduy has started the first phase of the procedure to extend the life of its two 1000 MW reactors by 20 years.

The Kozloduy NPP has made a contract with a consortium of RosenergoatomRussia and French company EDF formally called Consortium OAD “ConcernRosenergoatom” (Russia) – EDF (France) for complex surveying and appraisal of the resources and equipment of the two operational reactors, Units 5 and 6, announced the CEO of the plant Alexander Nikolov at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.

Back in 2011, the Bulgarian government started a tender to extend the life of the reactors, at least until 2035. Back then reports said the most likely winner of the tender for the modernization of the Kozloduy NPP is a consortium ofRosenergoatom Russia and French company EDF.

After the installation of Unit 6, the newest one, in 1991, the Kozloduy NPP reached a total production capacity of 3 760 MW. Currently, however, the capacity of the plant is down to 2000 MW after Bulgaria shut down the 440 MW reactors 1-4 in 2002 and 2006 at the insistence of the EU as part of the country’s EU accession negotiations.

Nikolov made it clear that the plant is now to comply with the conditions of the licenses of Units 5 and 6 issued by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulation Agency, and will draft and implement a program for preparing to extend the life of the two reactors.

Unit 5‘s life is to end in 2037, and Unit 6‘s – in 2019, but these dates are to be pushed back by 20 years if the program is implemented successfully.

The program in question is to be implemented based on the results of the survey to be conducted by Rosenergoatom and EDF. Once it is implemented, the KozloduyNPP will be able to request from the Nuclear Regulation Agency in Sofia new licenses for the operation of Units 5 and 6.

The issue about extending the life of the two reactors has become especially acute as the Borisov Cabinet decided in March 2012 to abandon the project for the construction of a second Bulgarian NPP, which was supposed to be located in another Danube town, Belene. It has already moved to install in Kozloduy (as Unit 7) the Russian made 1000 MW reactor that was destined for Belene.

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Bulgarian environmentalists are to protest on Saturday in downtown Sofia against potential shale gas research and exploration in the country.

“The fight is not over! For the conclusive ban on shale gas!” the main slogan of the rally is set to be.

The protesters are demanding new legislation to be adopted, tackling all exploration activities, including a law regulating concessions, since they believe the current legislation leaves the door wide open for robbing Bulgaria of its natural resources.

The environmentalists have decided to stage the new protest after Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov announced the formation of a consultative committee on shale gas without including representatives of their civic initiative or scientists.

In January, following a wave of environmental protests, the Bulgarian government revoked a shale gas exploration permit granted to US energy giant Chevron for deposits in Northeastern Bulgaria, citing the insufficient proof of the environmental safety of hydraulic fracturing. The decision followed a wave of protests organized by environmentalists and citizens across the country.

On January 18, the Cabinet imposed an indefinite ban on hydraulic fracturing, a method which involves injecting a mix of water, sand and chemicals at very high pressure deep underground to crack rock and release oil and gas.

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