Ukraine annually imports nuclear fuel to the tune of over $500 million / Photo from www.atomforum.org.ua
State-run enterprise Energoatom, which operates all Ukrainian-based nuclear power plants, will borrow $52.5 million from state-run Ukreximbank to repay debts to Russia's TVEL for nuclear fuel supplies, according to the Ukrainian Public Procurements web portal.
Part of the borrowed funds will be spent on the repayment of a previous loan taken by Energoatom from Ukreximbank, which was due to be repaid by September 2015.
Energoatom's press service told UNIAN that the company had to borrow the funds because power rates "do not properly take into account a foreign currency component."
Under procurements tender results, a loan agreement between Energoatom and Ukreximbank is to be signed early in November 2015.
UNIAN memo. Ukraine ranks seventh in the world in terms of the installed capacity of its nuclear power generating units. Energoatom operates four nuclear power plants in Ukraine with 15 power generating units, all with VVER-type reactors. Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, operating six power units with a total capacity of 6 GW, is Europe's largest.
Energoatom is the largest electricity producer in Ukraine, accounting for about 50% of the country's overall power output. Energoatom is responsible for the safe operation of all nuclear power plants in the country.
According to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Ukraine annually imports nuclear fuel to the tune of over $500 million.
To diversify nuclear fuel supplies, Ukraine plans to buy over a third of fuel for its nuclear power plants from U.S.-based Westinghouse in 2016. In 2015, Russia accounted for over 90% of nuclear fuel purchases.