Rosatom investments top 1.2 trln rubles in 2023, to remain in range of 1-1.5 trln rubles through 2030

MOSCOW. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Investments by the Rosatom state corporation topped 1.2 trillion rubles in 2023, according to Ilya Rebrov, the company's deputy head for economics and finance. Rosatom plans to maintain a comparable level of investments in the future, although there are problems with sources and conditions for attracting financing, and projects with a risky economic model, such as those in the Far East, will not be realized within the existing set of tools, he also said.

"Last year, our investments exceeded 1.2 trillion. Through 2030, our plan is approximately this size - from 1 to 1.5 trillion annually. All this we direct to the implementation, first of all, of state tasks, our most important state task is the construction of nuclear power plants," Rebrov said at a forum titled "Infrastructure Initiatives of Business", answering a question about attracting additional investments in programs for national development.

The task of increasing the share of nuclear generation in the country to 25% involves the construction of 42 power units of different capacities by 2030, he said. "This is 3-4 trillion rubles [in investments] of the volume I have already announced, and up to 2040 we're looking at more than 10 trillion rubles," Rebrov said.

"Naturally, we are very concerned about how we will finance this. Although we earn quite a lot on our own, as the government's financial and economic bloc constantly points out to us, we also spend much more by involving banks in this work. We use all the support measures available to us, but, unfortunately, there are no support measures to reduce financing rates specifically for the nuclear industry," he said.

"I am trying to work with support measures. Together with the Industry and Trade Ministry we are trying to extend the CIP [cluster investment platform for providing preferential financing for the creation of priority products] to a number of our products - we have there future products that are already in demand. These are floating power units and ground-based low-capacity units. Accordingly, we are trying to extend such measures to these new products. We are looking at what we can do for icebreakers," Rebrov said.

He said that the company is also drawing up support measures with Russia's Far East Development Ministry - "this is the so-called targeted project issue" [financing of specific large projects through issuance of money; the relevant draft law was discussed in the past, but did not find support]. "We have not yet met with any understanding from the government's financial and economic bloc, but nevertheless, without this measure, we will definitely not be able to carry out the development that is envisioned in the country's plans for the development of the Far East. Rosatom does not have such money to independently shoulder the entire set of risks associated with work in the Far East," Rebrov said.

According to Rebrov, the state corporation is also trying to use concession mechanisms, but he said that this "pilot experience" has not been "very successful".

The manager is also concerned about the readiness of related industries for Rosatom's large-scale plans. "I personally see gigantic risks associated with the fact that we need to develop all related industries and production. Those 42 blocks we have to build are millions of tonnes of cement/concrete, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of metals of various kinds. And if we "throw" this order into the market right now, we will see an increase [in cost] of all, what we call "capital goods", by two times at least, if not by three times," Rebrov said at the end of his speech. "Something has to be done about it, Rosatom alone will definitely not be able to cope with it. We invite all our partners, associates, assistants, regulators to this work to synchronize all these development plans," he said.

Earlier, the state corporation's official journal "Strana Rosatom" cited Gennady Sakharov, Rosatom's Director for Capital Investments, State Construction Supervision and State Expertise, reported that company's investment program in 2023 will amount to 1.4 trillion rubles, then increasing in 2024 to 1.8 trillion rubles.