Bulgaria's power grid operator National Electric Company (NEC) was expected to announce a shortlist of two or three companies in the tender for 49 per cent in the company to design and build the Belene nuclear power plant in the near future, Dnevnik daily quoted sources in the country's energy ministry as saying.

Earlier this year, the power grid operator requested asked five bidders -- Italy's Enel, the Czech CEZ and Germany's E.ON and RWE -- to sweeten their offers and give more details on their perceived role in the management of the project company. NEC argued that all strategic investors wanted full control over the company's management, which was a no-go situation for the Bulgarian side.

The would-be investors submitted their updated offers a month earlier, but NEC was yet to specify when it would announce the shortlist, nor when it expected final offers, saying only that it was reviewing the bids.

A week ago, NEC chief executive Lyubomir Velkov said that the power grid operator would select an investor and the bank that would manage the project's financing scheme by the end of the year.

Sources close to the project, quoted by Dnevnik daily, said the offers' appraisal will be made only based on the premium investors would offer to NEC. Financial clout, track record on the Bulgarian energy market and experience in nuclear energy projects would take a back seat, the sources said.