Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov announced in early November 2006 that he would notify the European Energy Commissioner of a planned reduction in the country's electricity exports, citing coal supply problems at the Varna coal-fired power station stemming from tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The Varna plant generates roughly 10 percent of Bulgaria's total electricity output. Ovcharov warned the cutback would "inevitably create problems for the countries in the region," which rely on Bulgarian supplies across the Balkans, where the country exports up to 7,600 megawatts annually.
Two 440-megawatt reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear plant are still scheduled for closure at year's end, as Bulgaria agreed in 2002 when negotiating EU membership. Only Kozloduy's two newer 1,000-megawatt units will remain operational. Bulgaria's national electricity company had already stopped offering export contracts beyond 1 January 2007.
To offset the lost generating capacity, the Bulgarian government selected Russian firm Atomstroyexport to build a second nuclear plant at Belene, in northern Bulgaria. The facility will include two 1,000-megawatt VVER pressurized water reactors, with the first unit expected online roughly six and a half years after construction begins.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.