Bulgaria ordered to pay Russia for dropped nuke plant

Bulgaria has been ordered to pay Russia 550 million euros ($620 million) for cancelling a nuclear power plant project, significantly less than Moscow had demanded, officials in Sofia said Thursday.

A Paris arbitration court "estimated that (Bulgaria's) National Electricity Company (NEK) is obliged to pay for nuclear plant equipment worth about 550 million euros," Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said.

"The decision is objective -- it is logical to pay for what you ordered," she added at a news conference.

Bulgaria scrapped plans in 2012 for the Russian-built 2,000-megawatt nuclear plant near Belene on the Danube river, citing the ever-rising price of the plant, estimated at about 6.0 billion euros ($6.8 billion) plus interest on loans.

Russia's nuclear export monopoly Atomstroyexport, part of Rosatom, took NEK to the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration in 2012.

Moscow and Atomstroyexport later increased their initial claim, suing Bulgaria, the poorest member of the European Union, for over one billion euros.

The court decision on Thursday awarded compensation to Atomstroyexport only for the equipment, Petkova said, adding that Bulgaria will seek further talks with Russia on resolving the issue.