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Sofia (AFP) Feb 19, 2010 Russia is ready to finance the construction of a new nuclear plant in Bulgaria by up to 2.0 billion euros (2.7 billion dollars) until a new strategic investor can be found, officials said here Friday. "We are ready to provide the necessary investment in order for construction to continue," said the head of Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, Sergey Kiriyenko, after talks with Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov. "We are ready to disburse the funding at very short notice and without guarantees on the part of the Bulgarian government," Kiriyenko said after the meeting, which was also attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko. Asked how much money Rosatom was ready to provide, Kiriyenko said: "As much as is necessary." He said Rosatom's preliminary estimates showed the Belene project would need 350-400 million euros in 2010 and a further 1.0-1.5 billion euros in 2011. By that time, Bulgaria should have been able to find a new investor to replace German power giant RWE, which withdrew from the project in October. Kiriyenko insisted that, "if necessary, Russia is also prepared to participate in the project as an investor with as big a share as the Bulgarian government sees fit." The Bulgarian state electricity utility NEK currently holds a 51-percent share in the 2,000 megawatt Belene plant to be built by Russian company Atomstroyexport. Following RWE's withdrawal, a strategic investor must be found to take over the other 49 percent. A lack of money has even forced Sofia to consider reducing the Bulgarian state's stake to 20-30 percent and offering the rest to a third investor. Traikov did not explicitly say whether Bulgaria would actually accept Russia's offer. A decision would be taken within the next few months following more detailed, expert-level talks, he said, adding that Bulgaria's concern was to avoid putting the entire project on ice until a new investor could be found.
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