Russia Seeks 1 Billion Euros Over Bulgaria Nuclear Plant Deal

Russia has raised to 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) its compensation claim against Bulgaria over the cancelation of a nuclear power plant that a Russian state company had been contracted to build.

Russia's Atomstroieksport had previously filed a suit with the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration seeking 58 million euros from Bulgaria's state utility NEK over the deal for the nuclear power plant at Belene, on the Danube River.

The deal for the 2,000-megawatt plant was signed in 2006, but Bulgaria in March canceled it, saying it could not afford to pay for the multibillion-euro project, a move that angered Moscow.

Bulgaria's NEK has also launched a countersuit with a Geneva arbitration court claiming Atomstroieksport owed it more than 60 million euros.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP