MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, Atomstroyexport, said Wednesday it has signed an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belene with Bulgaria's National Electric Company.
The agreement is worth 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion), according to Russia's Federal Nuclear Agency.
Atomstroyexport said in a statement, "In line with the agreement, the entire volume of work on the project was divided into two stages. The first stage, which starts immediately after the signing and lasts about a year, envisages the implementation of most of the project's top-priority work."
The first stage will include a detailed examination of building structures and equipment at the site of the Belene NPP, and the drawing-up of engineering design plans.
The agreement is the first part of a general contract, which will be developed in parallel with initial work on the project. The contract will specify all details of construction, outline conditions for the project's implementation and the construction schedule, and will set the main equipment parameters.
The project's second stage, to begin immediately after the general contract is signed in the first half of 2007, envisages direct work on the construction site, and includes the whole range of construction, assembly and launch-related work.
The deputy head of the Russian Federal Nuclear Agency Vladimir Travin said, "The contract is worth some 4 billion euros for two blocs, and will be financed by the Bulgarian National Energy Corporation."
Atomstroyexport, which is currently building five nuclear power plants in China, India and Iran, on contracts worth $4.5 billion, won a tender to build two 1,000-megawatt reactors for the Belene NPP, about 150 miles from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, on October 30.
