Bulgarian government approves exemption from sanctions against Russia, allowing purchase of equipment for its nuclear power plant

The Bulgarian Cabinet of Ministers has approved an exemption from sanctions against Russia, allowing the purchase of equipment from Russia needed to operate the country's only nuclear power plant, Kozloduy.

Source: Bulgarian national radio station BNR News, citing a government decision, as reported by European Pravda

Details: As a result, Bulgaria will import iron and steel products from Russia under an existing contract concerning the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, in order to ensure its operational safety.

According to the government, the decision was prompted by the fact that a significant proportion of the systems and equipment at the nuclear power plant are of Russian origin.

The Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant and the country's largest electricity producer. It accounts for more than one-third of the country's annual electricity generation.

The exemption will also apply to equipment for the unfinished Belene nuclear power plant. Through this decision, the government has authorised the National Electric Company EAD to launch a public tender and conclude a contract with the Bulgarian branch of the Russian company Atomstroyexport in Belene for the mothballing of equipment supplied for Units 1 and 2 of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant.

Background:

• Bulgaria obstructed the adoption of the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia, demanding the removal of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list.
• Commenting on the European Union's sanctions, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that member states were increasingly raising concerns about certain restrictive measures, guided by their own national interests. In his view, previous EU sanctions packages against Russia "had failed to achieve their goal".

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