Ukraine to achieve nuclear independence from Russia – Poroshenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Ukraine will achieve nuclear independence from Russia due to the construction of a centralized storage of spent nuclear fuel in Ukraine.

"With a full-fledged beginning of construction of a repository, our state will achieve one more, this time nuclear, independence from Russia," the president said at a press conference dedicated to the 32nd anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy on April 26, according to the presidential administration press service.

He noted that over the 26 years of independence, Ukraine remained the only country in the world that did not have its own storage facility for the spent nuclear fuel from domestic nuclear power plants.

Read alsoUkraine marks 32nd anniversary of Chornobyl tragedy with candles lit in Pripyat (Video)"It was beneficial for someone to remain on Moscow's needle all the time. Like, 'today, we may accept [fuel from Ukraine]. Tomorrow, we might not... We can easily set tariffs [for fuel receipt] that rip Ukrainians off'," Poroshenko said, commenting on Ukraine's full dependence on Russia in handling spent nuclear fuel.

In his words, Ukraine has been paying $200 million annually for fuel storage services.

"The filling of the storage facility with spent fuel to the project volume will take about 50 years," he added.