The framework agreement for Belene NPP was signed by Rosatom and Bulgaria in 2006, but the parties never concluded a construction contract. The project provided for a twin-unit nuclear station with a total capacity of over 2,000 MW.

In March 2012, Bulgaria decided to refuse from constructing the power station. By that time, the Russian party had already notified the customer that the first batch of equipment for Belene was completed and the reactor assembled. Rosatom filed a lawsuit against NEK EAD, the construction project owner, claiming one billion Euros.

“For several years since we won the bid in 2006, we have taken all possible steps to save the project and perform all of our obligations. When negotiating over Belene NPP, we did our best to find every solution possible and satisfy every unconventional request of the customer. However, the Bulgarian party has repeatedly refrained from fulfilling its project obligations, and we were forced to refer to the arbitration seeking a fair decision,” Rosatom’s spokesman stressed.

The company is satisfied with the court’s ruling. Despite this fact, the state-run nuclear corporation considers the Belene NPP project as excellent and regrets its termination, as the power station would have already been finished but for the contract breach.

The Belene NPP dispute did not put an end to the 50-year Russian-Bulgarian cooperation in the nuclear industry.”Bulgaria is Russia’s important partner in nuclear energy. For over 40 years, we have been seamlessly supplying nuclear fuel to Kozloduy NPP and cooperating to modernize and enhance the capacity of its units,” noted Vadim Titov, Head of Rosatom Central Europe, speaking at the international conference entitled Bulgarian Nuclear Energy: National, Regional and International Energy Security.