Belgrade, July 26 (Interfax) - China Development Bank offered to co-invest in the planned construction of a nuclear power plant in Belene, Bulgaria, the Serbian government said, citing talks between Serbian Energy and Mining Minister Petar Skundric and a Chinese delegation.
China Development Bank also showed interest in a project to rebuild and enlarge the Kostal hydroelectric power plant in Serbia.
Bulgaria expects to find the investor for the Belene project by mid-September. Germany’s RWE took on this role initially but backed out after the Bulgarian government failed to provide enough guarantees to satisfy the company.
The general contractor for the Belene construction project is the Russian company Atomstroiexport.
The value of the contract was about 4 billion euro initially, but has risen due to inflation over the past few years. The plant is set to have two generating units of 1,200 megawatts each.
