TEHRAN, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - Atomstroyexport will sign a general contract with Bulgaria in the first half of next year for the construction of a nuclear power plant at Belene, in the country's north-central region, a spokesman for Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly said Monday.
"We plan to sign a general contract for the construction of the Belene NPP in Bulgaria in the first half of 2007," the company official said.
At the end of November, Atomstroyexport and Bulgaria's National Electric Company signed a $5.3 billion deal that covers the first phase of the project, involving a detailed examination of facilities and the development of engineering design plans.
The second stage, to begin immediately after the general contract is signed, will provide for a whole range of construction, assembly and launch activities on the site.
The contract will outline the project's implementation terms and its schedule. The Bulgarian National Energy Corporation will finance the construction.
Atomstroyexport, which is currently building five nuclear power plants in China, India and Iran, under contracts worth a total of $4.5 billion, won a tender to build two 1,000-megawatt reactors for the Belene NPP, about 150 miles from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, on October 30.
