Rosatom has a good chance to get back the money spent on the Hanhikivi-1 NPP project in Finland, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev has said in a recent interview with RBC-TV on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In early May, Finland’s Fennovoima terminated the contract. The project involved the construction of a single-unit NPP with a Russian-designed VVER-1200. The customer, owner and operator is Fennovoima, the general supplier is RAOS Project (part of Rosatom).

In May, Fennovoima terminated the EPC contract with Rosatom for the construction of Hanhikivi-1 in Finland citing significant delays and inability to deliver the project, adding: The war in Ukraine has worsened the risks for the project. RAOS has been unable to mitigate any of the risks."

Fennovoima in 2013 signed the plant supply contract for Hanhikivi under a fixed-price contract. Fennovoima is majority owned by Finnish company Voimaosakeyhtiö SF, with shareholders including major Finnish corporations and several local energy companies. Some 34% is held by RAOS Voima Oy, the Finnish subsidiary set up in 2014 by Rosatom.

"The cancellation of construction is unjustifiable legally. The construction does not deserve any criticism from the point of view of management decisions or economic feasibility the decision is absolutely politicised," Likhachev said. He added that legal action will be taken noting that Rosatom has experience in such matters.

"All the money that was spent in Finland will be billed," he stressed.

“The paradox is that we were sent a conclusion on the termination of the contract on behalf of the board of directors [of the company] in which we hold 34%. We were not even invited to this meeting.”