SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 18 (UPI) -- Bulgaria's Prime Minister is seeking to lower the cost of the Belene nuclear power station.
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told reporters outside Parliament that "it is in Bulgaria's own interest to have a nuclear power plant, but at the lowest possible price," Bulgarskata Telegrafna Agentsiya reported Friday.
Borissov added, "It goes without saying that there will be nuclear power generation, but we should make it profitable for Bulgaria, and not for the commissioners -- that is the big difference."
Borissov's remarks were directed at Russia officials, who he expects to understand that in light of Bulgaria's financial crisis the current price suggested by Russia for the plant is excessive. "My interest is to bring down the price of the project as much as possible," he said.
The 2,000-megawatt Belene nuclear power plant is designed to replace Bulgaria's sole previous Soviet-era nuclear power installation, the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, which Bulgaria shut down as a condition for European Union membership.
