Fradkov will meet President Georgi Purvanov, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as well as chairman of the Bulgarian national assembly Ognyan Gerdzhikov, the source said.
According to him, the parties will discuss military and technical cooperation, including projects to reconstruct Mig-29 airplanes and modernize MI-17 and MI-24 helicopters.
"We are ready to do that to write off the Soviet Union's debt to Bulgaria," the source said. He recalled that the debt was divided into two parts, with $24 million to be paid by "special property", including reconstruction of military equipment, and $14.5 million to be paid by real money.
Also, the parties will discuss opening of a ferry service between the Bulgarian port of Varna and Russia's port of Kavkaz.
They will take up the problem of simplifying visa issuing to Bulgarian motor carriers, while Russia hopes that visa issuing to its tourists will be simplified as well.
During the visit the parties are expected to sign a long-term program of Russian-Bulgarian cooperation in the energy sphere, including the nuclear energy and electricity sphere, as well as oil and gas supplies, the agency's interlocutor said.
"The centerpiece will be construction of a nuclear power plant in Belene," an old project that has already received some $1 billion of investment, he added.
Bulgaria has already announced a tender to complete the plant, and its results will be announced in early 2005. Russia's Atomstroieksport has good chances to win, the source said.
At the tender Russia is represented in a consortium with a French-German company, while its Vneshekonombank, also with French and German banks works out a beneficial scheme of financing the project, he added.
The Russian delegation will also discuss participation of Russian companies in privatization of Bulgaria's large thermal power plants, such as Rusia, Varna and Bobov Dol.
RAO UES of Russia has interests in this sphere, the source said. Also, Russia is interested in reconstruction of large power plants built after Soviet technologies, he added.
The parties will also discuss construction of the Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline bypassing the Black Sea straits, he said.
"We want the Bulgarian party to find opportunities to improve support to the project, including tax and customs benefits," the interlocutor said. The project's cost is estimated at $700 million. If Bulgaria does not provide the necessary support, it will be economically unprofitable, he pointed out.
Russia's Transneft has already said it is ready to take part in a similar project offered by Turkey. The Turkish project is two times cheaper, he added.
