Energoatom has signed a loan agreement for £181m ($233m) with a consortium of Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank, Energoatom said on its Telegram channel. “Loan funds under the contract between Energoatom and Britain’s Urenco will be used to finance the supply of nuclear materials – enriched and natural uranium hexafluoride,” it said.
“The agreements provide for the supply of nuclear materials until 2035, with the possibility of extending the contract until 2043. The loan is granted for five years under the guarantee of the UK Government (through the export credit agency UKEF),” the Ministry of Energy reported. There are no state guarantees from Ukraine.
“Earlier, Pyotr Kotin, head of Energoatom, and Boris Schucht, Urenco CEO, signed a contract for the supply of enriched uranium product for Ukrainian nuclear power plants,” Energoatom recalled. “The British company will supply Energoatom with enriched uranium until 2035, with the possibility of extending the contract until 2043. The purpose of the loan is to ensure the fulfilment of the contract between Energoatom and Urenco regarding the purchase of nuclear fuel.”
“The Ukrainian side has been conducting negotiations for a long time, the result of which was long-term cooperation and obtaining a loan,” Energoatom added.
Energoatom and Urenco signed a contract for enriched uranium supplies for Ukrainian NPPs in November 2023. After Ukraine stopped using Russian nuclear fuel, Westinghouse became the sole supplier of fuel assemblies for its NPPs. Urenco now supplies the enriched uranium used by Westinghouse to produce them, Energoatom said.
