Chornobyl Shut Down, Promises Not Kept
Ukraine has fulfilled its commitments to close the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, while Western countries have not yet kept their promises under the December (1995) Memorandum which provides for their participation in finishing the construction of the Khmelnytsky and Rivne compensating nuclear power units, President Leonid Kuchma said last Thursday, addressing the regional media. The head of state announced that Ukraine intends to raise the question of keeping the commitments at the G-8 June summit in Canada. Mr. Kuchma also emphasized that negotiations still continue on this matter with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, Interfax-Ukraine reports. According to him, the talks helped to “somewhat lower” the total loan, originally constituting $1.48 billion.
Two options are now in the offing to fund the finishing of the Khmelnytsky-2 and Rivne-4 reactors. One involves $215 million in EBRD loans, $585 million in Euroatom loans, $96 million in Russian funds (for the supply of nuclear fuel), $340 million from Western export credit agencies, and $244 million of Ukraine’s own funds, with the total cost of the project being $1.48 billion.
The other option provides for a Russian loan worth $260 million (the amount required for finishing one of the power units) and another $260 million from Enerhoatom. Taking into account the Russian nuclear fuel credit (similarly to the first option), the whole project will cost $616 million. The Ukrainian side is negotiating both options.
According to Mykola Borysov, deputy chief of the strategic policies and long-term development department at the Ministry for Fuel and Energy, reaching an agreement with Euroatom promises Ukraine good dividends, an important factor in terms of our integration into the European community. However, in addition to the still unsolved differences between Ukraine and the EBRD over the project’s total cost, some other fundamental points also await solution. One of them, according to Mr. Borysov, is the demand to raise the nuclear power rate by 2.5 cents. As is known, Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said this is an objectionable demand, for it will cause Ukraine to raise electricity charges by 30- 35%. This would be a shock for both the economy and the population.
The project of cooperation with Russia is, of course, attractive for its cheapness, but even here, Mr. Borysov thinks, everything is not so simple: the Russian suppliers of equipment contemplate a higher degree of participation in the project, while Ukraine is interested in dealing primarily with domestic factories. At present, the Khmelnytsky-2 and Rivne-4 units are about 90% completed.
