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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (12628)	12/4/2001 4:40:51 AM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 281500

Ukraine to review European Bank's conditions on reactor construction The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said Monday that Ukraine would continue to cooperate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on construction of two nuclear reactors, but will review loan conditions and the project's estimated cost. We don't reject cooperation with the European Bank in any way, including the project of completion of the nuclear reactors, Kuchma told a news conference in Kyiv. But it's necessary to review the estimates of the construction cost. Kuchma said that the cost of the atomic reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants was overestimated by western experts, who said the project would cost about dlrs 1.5 billion. Ukrainian specialists say only dlrs 500 million to dlrs 600 million is needed. Kuchma also expressed dissatisfaction over what he called new EBRD conditions that emerged for unknown reasons. Under the conditions, Ukraine must compile a report on adequate nuclear safety at the plants, provide evidence of the government's solvency, increase electricity tariffs and confirm that other sponsors will help with the construction. Let us think by ourselves what to do, Kuchma said. Last week, Kuchma told a news conference in Moscow that conditions imposed by the EBRD were unacceptable and added up to eternal slavery for Ukraine. However, his comments on Monday indicated he was pulling back from the sharp criticism. Construction of the reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear plants was started in the Soviet era, but later stopped. Ukraine appealed to the international community to help complete the reactors to make up for the energy lost when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was closed down a year ago. Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, when a reactor there exploded, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. kpnews.com