Russian nuclear power stations will not be privatised, even though it may be necessary to harness various sources, including regional funds, to finance them, says Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov.
He explains that “in the present conditions” the privatisation of nuclear power stations is out of the question “for Russia”, and “for the time being it ought to be banned”.
MINATOM is now suggesting to the leaders of regional administrations that regional programmes for nuclear development should be drawn up jointly, relying on state, ministerial, and regional sources of finance. Adamov is looking to “a development budget as a source of credit”, but he does not expect to receive any funds from it in 1999. MINATOM is also considering participation in European and Canadian reactor projects as another way of attracting funds into Russian nuclear engineering.
“Technically they are no better than Russian projects, but this is a method for attracting investment”, he says.
