The first working meeting was held between representatives of Bulgaria

The first working meeting was held between representatives of Bulgaria and Ukraine, based on the Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of energy between the two countries. It was signed a day ago by energy ministers Rumen Radev and Herman Halushchenko. This was announced by the Ministry of Energy. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Energy and was led by the two ministers in the presence of experts and representatives of energy companies from both countries. The two delegations started the formal negotiation process for the sale of the equipment for the Belene NPP, in compliance with the decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. The negotiations will continue in different formats and with a schedule of work consistent with the time limits set by the decision of the Bulgarian Parliament. In the course of the talks, the two sides united around the thesis that this is a historic chance in which the interests of both sides coincide. Bulgaria has partially delivered equipment, which is not enough to build a whole new capacity. The dynamics in the energy sector are such that Bulgaria cannot afford to commit to a long, expensive and uncertain project. It must move quickly in sync with the common European energy market and invest in feasible new alternative capacities. Ukraine has a serious interest in Bulgarian equipment, which it needs to compensate for lost energy capacities, including as a result of the temporary occupation of the Zaporizhia NPP. The Bulgarian Minister of Energy Rumen Radev and his Ukrainian counterpart Herman Halushchenko were categorical that the prepared Memorandum of Cooperation aims at a much wider development of energy cooperation, which would support the economic and infrastructural development of the entire region. The representatives of the Ukrainian side stated that they are also interested in the possibilities of supplying liquefied natural gas through Bulgaria and its storage, as well as in increasing the capacity of electricity connectivity and opportunities for commercial exchanges. At the same time, they emphasized that another focus is to strengthen cooperation in the development of new energy technologies, especially in terms of green hydrogen and storage, as well as the development of RES capacities. With this first working meeting in implementation of the signed Memorandum, Bulgaria and Ukraine took the first real step towards realizing the great potential for cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries.