Ukrainian govt submits Energoatom corporatization bill to Verkhovna Rada

MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) - President of the Energoatom national nuclear energy generating company of Ukraine Petro Kotin has said that the state-owned company is preparing to be transformed into a corporation, and the government has already submitted a bill on forming JSC Energoatom National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine to the country's parliament for debate.

Kotin briefed G7 ambassadors and other officials of foreign diplomatic missions on this process during a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, August 24, Ukrainian media outlets said, citing an Energoatom statement on social media.

Kotin also outlined plans for Energoatom's development and spoke about the implementation of joint projects with U.S. company Westinghouse.

"We have put an end to dependence on Russia. Above all, we have stopped using its nuclear fuel, technologies, services, and components. At the same time, we have been enhancing cooperation with our years-long partner Westinghouse: we will purchase nuclear fuel for all Ukrainian nuclear power plants [NPP] and will build nine new AP1000 power units," Kotin said.

As reported, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum in September 2021 on the construction of five NPP power units in Ukraine. In early June 2022, Westinghouse and Energoatom signed agreements to increase the number of AP1000 power generating units at Ukraine's NPPs from five to nine units. The two companies also affirmed their intention to establish a Westinghouse Engineering Center in Ukraine.

Energoatom is the operator of all four functioning NPPs in Ukraine - the Zaporizhzhya, South Ukraine, Rivne, and Khmelnytskyi NPPs. The company operates 15 power units equipped with hydropower reactors with a total installed electrical capacity of 13.8 GW.