The Russian state-owned company stated that the decision was unilateral, without giving an ear to RAOS Voima, because the project has progressed well and the co-operation between the participants has been well-established.
We reserve the right to defend our rights in accordance with the applicable contracts and laws. Fennovoima has announced its decision to terminate the supplier contract for the nuclear power plant with Rosatom, saying the RAOS Project, the Rosatom subsidiary that was to deliver the plant, has experienced delays significant enough to warrant questioning its ability to see through the project.
A Finnish nuclear energy company called attention to the growing risks associated with the project due to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine.
CEO Joachim Specht said everyone at Fennovoima is sad and disappointed. This is not what we wanted to do. We wanted to deliver this project. Needless to say that with this setup we won't accomplish that, he said in a news conference in Helsinki.
The design and licensing work at the construction site has ended with immediate effect and Rosatom remains a shareholder in Fennovoima, which has a stake of roughly 34 per cent, according to RAOS Voima. The rest of the company's shares are owned by Voimaosakeyhti SF, a consortium of companies and municipal energy utilities of all sizes in Finland.
Specht stated in a press release that the termination of the engineering, procurement and construction contract will have a significant impact on the employees and supply chain of Fennovoima.
We will have people on the payroll but we have to follow the change negotiation and reduce our staff until the end of the year. How many people will remain on the payroll? He said that it is too early to give any accurate or credible figures on that.
Specht said the company's focus is on preserving the construction site.
The preservation of the site means first suspending activities related to our formal engineering, procurement and construction contractor and secondly to conclude in a controlled and defined way the activities Fennovoima itself conducts on the site, like the erection of the administration building, he said.
It has to do a lot with collecting the relevant site data or relevant information in order to maintain a maximum level of information and to preserve the site for potential future activities. Both Specht and Esa Hrm l, the board chairperson at Fennovoima, underlined that the primary reason for terminating the cooperation was not Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The contract was suspended due to delays and inability to deliver, and we base our decisions on facts. The war has increased these risks, stated Hrm l It's not a single event, echoed Specht. It has happened for years and the lack of capabilities and delivery capabilities has accumulated. H rm l revealed that around 600 700 million euros have already been poured into the project, with each stakeholder contributing a share equivalent to their stake in the nuclear energy company.
The Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment praised the decision to terminate the delivery contract on Monday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment considers the owner's decision regarding the plant delivery contract to be justified and consistent. The termination of the contract is an understandable measure in this situation, it said in a press release.