News

Approximately an additional amount of EUR 30 million was agreed, including for remuneration of the staff involved in the decommissioning process in the next two years.
On 3rd of December 2015, a session of the Assembly of the Contributors of the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDFS) was held in London, UK. The Bulgarian delegation participating in the forum was led by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr. Zhecho Stankov and with members – the Executive Director of SERAW, Mr. Dilyan Petrov, experts from SERAW, the Ministry of Energy and Kozloduy NPP. The Assembly was also attended by representatives of the European Commission (EC) which monitors the spending of the European contributors’ funding and representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which administrates the funding. During the sessions, the progress in the decommissioning activities of the last six months was reported and projects provided for implementation in subsequent periods were presented.
As a result of the assessment of the decommissioning activities’ progress, the Assembly approved the signing of new financial agreements (Grants) which will support the implementation of the programme for safe decommissioning of the shutdown nuclear units of Kozloduy NPP. Another important agreement approved in London provides support in terms of the human resources – the salaries of the specialists involved in the decommissioning process for the period 2016-2017. The Contributors approved also the extension of the work period of the international consultancy group for the project management in the next three years. The funding under these two Grants amounts to approximately EUR 30 million.
“The Assembly of the Contributors approved our proposal as we repeatedly prove our ability and resources for clear and effective project management. Personally, I am very satisfied that we managed to justify the salaries of the specialists working in the Specialized Decommissioning Division – otherwise the cost of maintaining the people involved in this activity of such high importance such as the management of radioactive waste generated from the nuclear energy production, would fall on the Bulgarian state” – so Mr. Dilyan Petrov commented on the results of the Assembly.
The forum in London was preceded by preliminary preparation and inspection performed during the sessions of the KIDSF Monitoring Committee and Nuclear Decommissioning Assistance Committee to EC. The meetings took place on 26th and 27th of November in the headquarters of Directorate-General for Energy in Luxembourg where representatives from SERAW and EBRD reported on the implementation of the decommissioning projects funded with European support and presented an Annual Work Programme for the decommissioning activities to be performed in 2016.
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The Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF) has been established by a Framework Agreement between the EBRD and Republic of Bulgariaconcluded on 15 June 2001 and ratified by an Act promulgated in SG 38 of 12.04.2002. Administrator of the KIDSFis the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The Bank) and the management of the funds utilization from the Bulgarian side is performed by the Ministry of the Energy within the jurisdiction.
KIDSF was established with the purpose to manage the grant funds from EC granted under a special PHARE programme for mitigation of the results from the early decommissioning of Kozloduy NPP Units by funding and co-funding the preparation and implementation of projects.
In accordance with the KIDSF rules and the Framework Agreement, the Bank in its capacity as Fund administrator provides funds for funding or co-funding the implementation of projects after their approval by the Assembly of Contributors (the Contributors) at which the European Commission has the casting vote as the main Contributor of the KIDSF.