European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has backed Bulgaria’s demands for increased compensation for the closure in 2006 of two aging Soviet-era nuclear reactors, the government said yesterday.
The Socialist-led government has focused on lobbying for more money from the 27-strong bloc, giving up earlier plans to restart the shut units after strong signals from Brussels that any such attempt would be blocked.
“This support significantly increases the chance for a positive resolution of the issue, because we are talking about several hundred million euros,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said in a statement.
The Balkan country closed two 440-megawatt nuclear reactors at the end of 2006 to win EU entry, but the government has repeatedly said it was unfair of the bloc to rule that they were dangerous.
In January, the Parliament gave the Cabinet permission to ask Brussels to let Bulgaria restart the units to compensate it for the economic crisis and for losses caused by cuts in gas supplies after the price dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
Government officials said that request was just a tactic to justify seeking higher compensation for the closure of the reactors.
Analysts said it was also a ploy by the Socialists to stoke a nationally sensitive subject and revive sagging support ahead of parliamentary elections this June or July.
The EU has already promised Bulgaria some 550 million euros ($753 million) in compensation for the period until the end of this year. The government said it wanted compensation for the period until 2013, but did not say how much extra cash it wanted.
(KATHIMERINI, 03/21-22/2009)