Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov will hold talks with Russian officials to speed up work on two major energy sector projects, the ministry's press service said on March 19.

Dimitrov is expected to discuss the South Stream gas pipeline and the Belene nuclear power plant, both of which have been described by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev as key for securing Bulgaria a dominant position on the energy market in Southeastern Europe.

South Stream, whose start of operations has already been delayed by two years to 2014, according to reports in Russian media, would pump Russian gas under the Black Sea and into Bulgaria, from where it would go on to Serbia, Hungary and Central Europe.

For Belene, Bulgaria picked Atomstroyexport to build two 1000MW reactors, but work has been limited to clearing the site of the future power station. Construction has been hampered by lack of funding, as Bulgaria is still looking to secure bank loans for the four-billion project, whose costs are now expected tobe much higher.

Dimitrov is accompanied on his trip by Galina Tosheva, chief executive of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, which integrates all state-owned assets in the energy sector, and Ivan Atanassov, chief executive of Bulgarian state-owned power grid operator NEK. Atanassov is also the head of the special unit overseeing the Belene power station project.

The Bulgarian delegation will meet Russian energy minister Sergey Shmatko and Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Russia’s state-run nuclear holding company Rosatom.