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Bulgaria begins Kozloduy decommissioning
EBRD to administer new international fund; terms agreed today with Bulgaria
An internationally backed fund to support the decommissioning of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power station was formally put into action today after a meeting of the fund's contributors. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which will act as the fund's administrator, hosted the first meeting of the Assembly of Contributors to the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund. Close to €100 million has been committed to the Fund, with significant additional contributions expected to follow after the final date for closing Units 3 and 4 of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant has been agreed.
Today's meeting, chaired by Matthias Ruete, Director of Enlargement, Directorate-General of the European Commission (EC), and elected Chairman of the Assembly, was attended by representatives of the European Commission and the countries donating to the Fund.
Mr Ruete said: "Today's meeting is a clear sign that the implementation of the decommissioning programme of Kozloduy has started and the EU and the other donors are closely assisting Bulgaria in this task. I am particularly pleased that in the short period up to the Assembly, six countries - Denmark, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - have joined the European Community in contributing to the Fund. Several more have indicated their intention to do so in the near future."
Following approval by the Assembly of the Framework Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the EBRD, Joachim Jahnke, a Vice President at the EBRD, and Ivan Shiliashki, President of the State Agency for Energy and Energy Resources (SAEER), representing the Government of Bulgaria, signed the document.
Mr Shiliashki said: "The establishment of this Fund will focus the international support on the essential investment projects for Bulgarian energy-sector development. The joint work of Bulgarian institutions and the EBRD will help secure implementation of the main strategic objectives for Bulgaria - security of supplies, guarantee of nuclear safety and improved energy efficiency."
Mr Jahnke added: "The EBRD has been administering Nuclear Safety Funds since 1993 and is very pleased to see this important mandate grow further. The EBRD signed a similar agreement with Lithuania for the decomissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in April and will shortly start operating in the Slovak Republic as well."
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