Agreement with Russia on building of nuclear center in Serbia soon – Bulgaria to seek help from Serbia in raising a nuclear power plant too?

After a meeting with Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom held on June 7, 2019, Serbian Minister for Innovations and Technological Development Nenad Popovic announced that an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries on the construction of a scientific research center for the peacetime use of nuclear energy in Serbia would be reached within the next few months.

– We are talking with them about the construction of a scientific research center which would be used exclusively for peacetime purposes, primarily for medicine and agriculture and all the new technologies used within the development of digitization – Popovic told the press at the economic forum SPIEF, Energetski Portal reports.

He added that several agreements had been reached at the meeting with Likhachev, which will be realized in the next few months through an intergovernmental agreement, as well as the signing of several agreements which will be the foundation for the construction of the said center.

Rosatom is currently in the process of a large expansion of the construction of nuclear power plants worldwide, the minister added.

On the other hand, as Blic writes, Bulgaria is also offering Serbia a participation in the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, although there have not been official talks with Belgrade about this project.

As the daily writes, Bulgaria is looking for new partners in the Balkans due to the lack of finances and the pulling out of some Western European companies, primarily the German concern RWE, but also companies from the USA, Italy, France and Great Britain.

In addition to Serbia, there are also North Macedonia and Montenegro, with whose help the Bulgarians want to revive this project, which has been considered since the 1980s.

The Government of Serbia has declined to comment on this officially for Blic, and the daily learns unofficially that no official arrangement has been offered yet.

Blic also writes that the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant would cost EUR 6 billion.

According to media writings from late May, Serbia and North Macedonia sought a share in the future Bulgarian nuclear power plant, after Bulgaria announced in the Official Journal of the European Union that it was looking for a strategic partner for the project.

The selection of the strategic investor should be completed within the next year.

Ministarstvo nauke, tehnološkog razvoja i inovacija Republike Srbije

Rosatom Moskva - Rusija

RWE Germany

Alexey Likhachev

Nenad Popović

construction of nuclear center in Serbia

construction of Bulgarian nuclear power plant Belene

participation of Serbia in the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant