Vince Novak, the EBRD's director for nuclear safety, said at the end of the meeting on Friday that the bank would stop funding for the entire project unless the INPP transferred 72.9 million euros to Nukem Technologies, one of the contractors of the project, within four weeks. The plant is to transfer the money for work performed in a solid radioactive waste storage project, known as B2/3/4.
Unofficial sources told Verslo Žinios that in response to Novak's statement, Lithuania's negotiators reiterated their position that the contractors had to substantiate this financial claim.
The INPP last week received Nukem's claim for allegedly unpaid money for the work performed. Although the bill is relatively small and, according to Verslo Žinios' sources, amounts to up to 1 million euros, the plant's officials pondered whether this formal move by the contractors could be the beginning of some more important process, such as the first step toward the termination of the contract. Nukem Technologies' board chairman Ulf Kutcher reportedly spoke about that in London last week.
Darius Janulevičius, the Ignalina plant's CEO, told BNS last Friday, "The donors confirmed that the amounts had to be substantiated. Then, there should be a final agreement on the parent company's guarantee and on a work schedule to ensure that the project is completed."
Before the money is paid, there should be a guarantee from Russia's energy giant Rosatom, which owns Nukem, and agreement on a work schedule, he said.
