Bulgaria is negotiating with France’s nuclear equipment manufacturer Framatome to carry out a study on the technical feasibility of using Russia-made equipment to build the proposed Belene nuclear power station, but possibly without depending on Russian companies, according to Sofia’s energy minister Rosen Hristov.

Hristov said earlier this month during a visit to the Belene site that the ministry wants to see a full analysis of what can be built with the existing nuclear island equipment and “whether there will be any dependence on Russian companies in the future, addressing all risks, including geopolitical ones”.