Online Newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and information from publics.bg

News

From Bulgaria

01.10.2013 11:05

Gorna Arda Hydro Stakeholders Dismiss Rumours of Selling Shares

EVN and the National Electricity Company said they were not informed about Chinese investors interested in the

AUTHOR: publics.bg

© http://www.gornaarda.bg/

EVN AG is not experiencing any setbacks with financing Gorna Arda hydro power project and neither EVN, nor the National Electricity Company (NEK), have been notified about a possible third-party investor that might be willing to join the project.

This statement of Hydro Energy Company Gorna Arda (HEC Gorna Arda), a joint venture of Austria’s EVN and Bulgaria’s state-owned NEK, dismissed rumours about EVN’s financing issues regarding the project and the alleged interest of other investors towards the planned hydro cascade in the Rhodope mointains. Yesterday, socialist party MP Milko Bagdasarov commented before the press that “there were a number of investors interested, including Chinese ones, in the construction of Gorna Arda, which EVN does not the ability to finance”.

EVN and NEK said it is unfortunate that a large scale project like Gorna Arda, which is eagerly anticipated by the local society, has fallen victim to speculations.

HEC Gorna Arda’s statement further explained that the project is still in a preparatory phase, which aims at modernizing and optimizing the initial project, devised more than 30 years ago.

“The two shareholders in HEC Gorna Arda are putting great efforts into improving the project in order to live up to the requirements of our modern society and to present an environmentally friendly project that brings benefits to the local communities and is expedient regarding the cost of energy to be produced”, the companies explained.

Bagdasarov’s statement about EVN’s financial issues with the project was dismissed as unfounded.

Neither EVN AG, nor the National Electric Company denied being informed about Chinese investors interested in Gorna Arda. The two companies firmly stated none of them is currently considering the possibility to draw back or sell its stake, or part of it, to a third party.

Gorna Arda is a planned hydro cascade comprising three dams along upstream Arda in Rhodope mountains in Southwest Bulgaria with planned installed capacity of 174.2 megawatts and an average yearly production of 4400 GWh. The construction is set to begin in 2014.

EVN entered the project in 2011, currently holding 70% of the shares, the rest being hold by NEK. Turkey’s CCG İNŞAAT SANAYİ YATIRIM VE TURİZM A.Ş. is a former stakeholder in HEC Gorna Arda.