Sofia. German company RWE will from now on decide whether to grant the investment promised.
The signing of the shareholding contract for Belene nuclear power plant through which German company RWE will gain 49% of the future plant's stakes, was postponed. Instead of end-October 2008 when the last deadline expired, the paper will most likely be endorsed in December 2008, the project's main investor National Electricity Company (NEC) said, The Banker Weekly reported.
However, the German partners do not think alike. According to Handelsblad daily, RWE's final decision on the Belene investment could be put off until the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. During their November 2, 2008 extraordinary meeting, the supervisors approved in principle the concern's entry into the plant project company but they left over all future moves. The reason lies in still pending questions regarding the nuclear project, the newspaper affirms quoting RWE sources. The main problems are related to the future plant's safety and the need of analysis on how the Bulgarian investment will affect the company's business performance amid the global economic crisis.
Approximately 300 Greenpeace active members protested last weekend in front of RWE headquarters in Essen against the company's participation in the Bulgarian nuclear power plant. „The German concern gets itself involved into a nuclear venture and plays russian roulette with people's safety", said Hainz Mittel, a Greenpeace expert being cited by Deutsche Welle. And a written appeal focuses on the fact that 12 international banks, including Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and HypoVereinsbank, have already detached themselves from participating in the project funding.