By Viktor Zamyatin,
The Day
It looks as though President Kuchma made a rash statement during the ceremony commemorating the Chornobyl disaster when he said that Ukraine could not await an EBRD loan any longer and would therefore complete the reconstruction of power units at the Rivne and Khmelnytsky stations jointly with Russia.
Roman Shpek, head of Ukraine’s National Agency for European Integration and Development, and Vasyl Poluneyev, EBRD manager in Ukraine, said that the situation was different.
Mr. Shpek stated in particular that the annual EBRD convention in Kyiv will by all means consider financing the Rivne and Khmelnytsky projects, as well as the one aimed at building a new containment structure for Chornobyl’s Power Unit No. 4. Moreover, considering EBRD standing procedure, whereby the bank’s decision and the actual transfer of funds are separated by a year, Ukraine will press EBRD to speed up its implementation. According to Mr. Poluneyev, the main problem is that EBRD experts are not convinced of Enerhoatom’s ability to repay the debt without shifting the burden onto the state budget.
Be it as it may, finishing the two power units will cost about $1.2 billion and EBRD will be able to foot only one-third of the bill. Hence, financing the project will most likely be multilateral, involving Russia. Money can be received not only from the EBRD, but also from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euroatom). Whatever the circumstances, Ukraine will complete the project, Mr. Shpek assured one and all.
