A consortium of companies interested to finance the construction of reactors 3 and 4

Representatives of a consortium of companies interested in building the 3 and 4 reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant met on Friday with Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian, who believes that a formula should be found to share the risk between the state and the participants to the project. Vosganian met on Friday with a businessmen delegation consisting of representatives of the consortium SNC – Lavalin Nuclear Ontario, Ansaldo Nucleare Italy and Elcomex Romania. “The representatives of the three companies shown interest, during talks, to identify a financing model for the construction of groups 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear plant”, a communique of the Ministry of Economy reads. Vosganian stated that the Government supported the project, considering necessary to attract investments to diminish the state’s stake in reactors 3 and 4. Economy Minister mentioned that the Government planned to continue the programs in the nuclear energy field, showing that the public opinion in our country was open to investments in this field, unlike other types of energy. The construction of units 3 and 4 at Cernavoda started in 2007, when the joint venture EnergoNuclear was established, which at that time included Romania’s Nuclearelectrica, controlled by the state through the Ministry of Economy, Italy’s Enel, Romania’s ArcelorMittal, CEZ (the Czech Republic), Germany’s RWE, Iberdrola (Spain) and France’s GDF Suez. The construction had to begin in 2010. Currently, Nuclearelectrica owns over 84% in the project company, the remaining shares being owned by ArcelorMittal Romania and Enel Italy.