Alexander Ignatyuk, analyst of Energocapital IC

– Construction of Tver NPP is important for the development of the whole Central Federal District and, first of all, Moscow and Moscow region

Public hearings on the preliminary environmental impact assessment of the project to build and operate Tver Nuclear Power Plant will be held in Udomlia district July 8 2009.

First of all, I would like to say that the construction of Tver Nuclear Power Plant is important for the development of the whole Central Federal District and, first of all, Moscow and Moscow region. Moscow and Moscow region are highly attractive for investors despite the crisis, consume as much energy as before and will show sharp growth when the economy revives.

You may ask: what will this give to Tver region? The answer is obvious: the construction of Tver NPP will give the region a big package of benefits – quite a big piece from the Moscow pie. It is not a secret that power engineering ensures 30% of the gross product of Tver region and that Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant gives the local budget almost 1.7bln RUR a year. In the future this figure will grow and why not to spend this money on development and not to bring the level of Tver to that of Moscow? In other words, the new NPP is a step to prosperity — not mentioning the thousands of constant and temporary jobs and the development of social and transport infrastructure.

So, this project is quite important for Tver region.

Note

For 25 years already Udomlia has hosted Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant. The federal target program for the development of Russia’s nuclear industry in 2007–2010 and -2015 stipulates the construction of a new Tver Nuclear Power Plant several kilometers from Kalinin NPP. In Nov 2007 Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko approved a declaration of intention to finance the construction of nuclear reactors in Tver region. In Oct 2008 this document was approved by Governor of Tver region Dmitry Zelenin. In the spring 2009 the Assembly of Deputies of Udomlia district gave preliminary consent to the construction of Tver NPP in the territory of the district.