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The Finnish nuclear energy company Fennovoima Oy blows up its contract with the Russian Rosatom. Work on a new plant was already well underway, but Helsinki wants to prevent Moscow from managing critical infrastructure in the country.
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RAOS Project, a unit within Rosatom, has been experiencing ‘significant and growing delays in recent years’, according to the official explanation from Fennovoima Oy. “The problems have worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” The Russian state-owned nuclear power company was “incapable of mitigating the risks,” the Finns said.
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The cessation of the works is a blow to the region, CEO Joachim Specht realizes. “Unfortunately, the termination of the contract is expected to have a significant impact on the employees of Fennovoima, the supply chain companies and the Pyhäjoki region.”
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Russians working outside
The Finns have long struggled with how to stop Russia from managing critical Finnish infrastructure. And the now canceled Hanhikivi power station has also been controversial for years for that reason. As early as 2014, the then Norwegian environment minister called the project a typical example of ‘Finlandisation’, or the phenomenon whereby small countries adjust their policies to accommodate a large neighbour.
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Moreover, Rosatom was not only responsible for the construction of the power station. The Russian state-owned company, with a 34 percent stake, has also been the main shareholder and lender of the Fennovoima consortium since the German utility EON SE withdrew in 2012.
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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintila has said several times that the project – which was given the green light in 2010 – would no longer receive a permit today.
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It was practically impossible to continue with the project.