After NEK (National Electricity Company) announced on November 6 that the construction plans for the Belene nuclear power plant were in line with the Euratom treaty and that Bulgaria could continue to pursue its commitments under the agreement, spokesperson for EU Energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, Ferran Terradellas, said a day later that the commission had not taken a decision on Belene yet.

Local media reported on November 6 that the European Commission Directorate General for Energy and Transport had approved the preliminary agreement between Bulgaria's National Electricity Company NEK and Russia's AtomStroyExport to build a 2,000MW nuclear power plant in the Danube town of Belene.

Media quoted an NEK media statement wich said that after reviewing the documents NEK submitted, the EC concluded the project was not in violation of the Euratom treaty and that it had sent a notification saying Bulgaria could continue carrying out its agreements.

However, on November 7 Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) announced the EC denied that it had given a green light the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belene.

Tarradellas told BTA that the Commission had not yet taken a decision. He said the approval process took time and that although the Commission worked well with Bulgarian representatives, the final decision was not yet taken.

The European Commission had been notified of a 2006 agreement between NEK and AtomStroyExport, pursuant to Article 105 of the Euratom treaty, concerning agreements signed with third countries by an EU member state prior to its accession to the EU.

The project to build the second nuclear power plant in Bulgaria was valued at 4 billion euro. The first power-generation unit was projected to start operating in 2014. AtomStroyExport in partnership with France 's Areva and Germany's Siemens were contracted to build the ground infrastructure, supply equipment, installation and commissioning of the two power reactors, IntelliNews said.

The local authorities should select a strategic equity investor for the plant and sign a final deal with the Russian contractor by the end of 2007.

The Czech electricity company CEZ, Germany ’s E.ON and RWE, Belgium ’s Electrabel, and Italy ’s Enel have filed initial offers for 49% of the company set to administer construction works and operate the 2,000MW nuclear plant.

Cabinet provided state guarantees worth 600 million euro for the planned loan agreement with the European Investment Bank and Euroatom in support of the project.

Tarradellas would not say when the Commission's position on the Belene project was to be expected.