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Rosatom ready to work with unfriendly countries after peace with Ukraine — CEO

Alexey Likhachev stressed that the corporation is not afraid of competition

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. In the event of a peace agreement on Ukraine, Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom is ready to discuss cooperation with unfriendly countries, the corporation’s CEO Alexey Likhachev told reporters at the Forum of Future Technologies.

"Of course, in the event of peace agreements that take into account the interests of the Russian Federation, we will definitely discuss cooperation in the nuclear sector with our foreign partners, who are currently in the camp of unfriendly countries," Likhachev said.

The executive stressed that the corporation is not afraid of competition.

"Not only we are not afraid of competition, we encourage it in every possible way, because it stimulates us and pushes us to more intensive innovative development of our own nuclear, and non-nuclear technologies. But in this case, of course, we must very clearly understand that all interests of the Russian Federation, including in the nuclear sector, must be observed," Likhachev noted.

The head of Rosatom underscored the role and importance of the Russian nuclear industry in the world.

"I would like to recall the case when the only salvation for Ukrainian nuclear energy was the purchase of old Russian reactors. This very well proves the fact that it is very difficult to develop nuclear energy in the world without taking into account the experience and specific projects of the state corporation Rosatom. This is stressed by the IAEA nuclear agency represented by both its CEO and its experts," Likhachev said.

On February 11, the Ukrainian parliament authorized the purchase of two Russian nuclear reactors for the Khmelnitsky NPP in Bulgaria. Russian VVER-1000 reactors remain in Bulgaria after Sofia refused to build the Belene NPP.

About forum

The Future Technologies Forum is an annual event held in Moscow since 2023. This year, it is supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Science Foundation and the Russian Quantum Center. It is co-organized by Gazprombank, the Moscow government and the Rosatom state corporation. Sber is the forum’s general partner, with Rosseti being its strategic partner and the Kurchatov Institute - the forum’s strategic scientific partner. TASS is the forum’s information partner.

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