MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia did not receive any notice about Ukraine’s refusal to cooperate in the construction of the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant and both sides are continuing negotiations on the project, a representative for Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom told RIA Novosti.
“Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry is the partner of Russia as part of the cross-government agreement on the construction project of Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant’s third and fourth power units. We have been negotiating with the Energy Ministry, and continue to do this. As of today, the Russian party has not received any official notice of cancellation or suspension of the project,” Rosatom’s representative said Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, Yuri Nedashkovsky, the president of Ukraine’s nuclear plants operator Energoatom, told the press that Ukraine had abandoned Russia’s services in the construction of the third and fourth power-generating units at Khmelnitsky, at the same time nixing another joint project, agreed on in 2011, for the supply of VVER-1000 reactors by Russia.
In early June, Rosatom deputy head Kirill Komarov said Russia was ready to fulfill its obligations on the construction of power units at Khmelnitsky despite the political crisis in Ukraine.
Since mid-April, eastern Ukraine has seen intense fighting between government troops and the region’s independence forces, which formed the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The conflict has led to more than 2,000 deaths, according to the latest UN estimates.
