The talks between Temenuzhka Petkova, Bulgarian Minister of Energy, and her Russian counterpart Alexander Novak took place in late June. Following the talks, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Energy reported, “The decision awarded by the arbitration on 15 June is viewed by the Bulgarian party as objective. The parties agreed that the two companies involved in the arbitration proceedings, namely Bulgaria’s NEK EAD and Russia’s AtomStroyExport, should find a solution that will be beneficial to each of them.”

Petkova and Novak agreed that the both companies would send their experts to Bulgaria and Russia for the on-site inspection of equipment prepared for Belene NPP. The ministers voiced their readiness to keep up the dialog on energy partnership and highlighted successful Russian-Bulgarian cooperation in the transportation of energy resources. A representative of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Energy also noted that Temenuzhka Petkova had informed her Russian counterpart of the talks held between Bulgaria and the European Commission on building the Balkan gas hub in Bulgaria to be supplied with Russian gas as well.

Russia’s AtomStroyExport won the construction contract for Belene NPP in 2005. It was signed on 29 November 2006, but in late March 2012 the Bulgarian government announced that the Belene project was discontinued. In late January 2013, Bulgaria held a referendum on building a new nuclear station in Belene. The attitude of people towards nuclear power was made clear: with a 20% turnout, the majority (60.6%) voted to develop the industry and build the new plant. Nevertheless, the authorities ignored the results. In February 2013, the Bulgarian parliament once again decided against the nuclear construction project in Belene although the people voted for it. On 16 June 2016, the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva sided with Rosatom’s engineering company AtomStroyExport in a dispute with Bulgaria’s NEK EAD over the termination of the Belene NPP project. The arbitration award is final and subject to no appeal.