Delyan Dobrev: Only Hyundai Engineering and Construction meets the requirements to build the new units at Kozloduy NPP

The seventh unit of the Kozloduy NPP should be ready in 2035, and the eighth unit should be completed two years later. The process of selecting a builder is currently underway. Of the five applicants who expressed interest in building the new nuclear facilities, two Chinese and two American companies did not meet the requirements. Negotiations will start with the Korean "Hyundai" - this was announced by the chairman of the parliamentary energy committee and GERB MP Delyan Dobrev to bTV.

From Dobrev's statement, it is understood that the company is Hyundai Engineering and Construction (Hyundai E&C), part of the Hyundai corporation. In Bulgaria, until a few years ago, the South Korean giant was known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Bulgaria, which is a manufacturer of power and oil transformers. But in 2020 it was sold to Russia's SVEL Group, and now bears the name Elprom Heavy Industries.

The South Korean nuclear power plant manufacturer will be invited to submit a binding bid with a price for the design, fabrication, supply, installation and commissioning of units seven and eight of the nuclear power plant.

The procedure for expression of interest by a potential main contractor of the project, who would enter into a consortium with the American "Westinghouse", according to whose AP-1000 technology the reactors will be built, ended on February 2. Then the project company "NPP Kozloduy New Capacities" announced that five companies had submitted applications for interest, but did not name them.

The requirements of the project company were to have in-depth knowledge and experience in the design, construction, delivery and commissioning of nuclear units. They must have built and put into operation at least two nuclear units, and in the last five years - 2018-2022 have a net profit and turnover of more than 6 billion US dollars.

According to Dobrev, it is unknown why two of the companies - the American "Bechtel" and "Fluor" - did not apply directly, but with their subsidiaries, which did not meet the technical and financial requirements, and the "Fluor" company in three of the required five years it was even at a loss. Thus, they are disqualified, and of the five candidates, only "Hyundai" meets the requirements.

The Korean company must submit its binding offer for the construction of the two reactors, for it to be accepted by the Bulgarian company, and the construction company itself must also be approved by Westinghouse, with which they must create a consortium for the construction of the new nuclear facilities.

According to Dobrev, the price for the two reactors will be more than the one announced by the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev a few days ago - up to 14 billion dollars for the reactors and all the necessary infrastructure for them.

Outside the topic of the reactors, Dobrev did not spare criticism of the PP-DB leaders. One of them was related to "Lukoil", which before the war bought 15 million barrels of Russian oil, and then - 45 million barrels each. The MP pointed out that from January 1, 2024, the refinery in Burgas will operate with non-Russian oil:

"Prices are the same, fuel did not increase in price, the refinery is working. The Russian props of Denkov and Vassilev turned out to be just Russian props. However, Putin's regime received billions from Bulgaria."

Dobrev pointed out that Asen Vassilev, while he was in the USA, offered Lukoil Neftohim for sale. For the national representative, it was puzzling why Petkov and Vasilev were selling the refinery and asked in what capacity they were doing it, since they are not the owners.

In addition, Dobrev received a signal that the Minister of Finance rode in the personal car of Alexander Velichkov (Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Lukoil Neftohim Burgas" Refinery) and both of them visited the headquarters of "Lukoil". According to Dobrev, during the hearing in the Supreme Court, Velichkov did not deny that this happened.

The deputy from GERB also said that Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov was walking around with a resignation in his pocket and threatened to submit it if the derogation fell. According to Dobrev, the derogation lasted a year longer than necessary.

Dobrev also accused Vasilev of draining BGN 3.5 billion from the energy sector in the last 2 years for the holes in the budget: "In the last three years, dividends from energy companies in the amount of BGN 3.5 billion have been redirected to the budget to fill financial holes". According to him, this is not illegal, but it has hindered the development of our energy sector. Dobrev gave an example of the fact that we are now an importer of electricity instead of an exporter.

He is also categorical that there are politicians who have worked in the interests of Russian interests in our country. The deputy revealed that he had alerted the competent authorities about this. "In the Council of Ministers are the real people who benefited Putin's regime," he said.