OREANDA-NEWS. June 11, 2010. Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov held a working meeting with Director General of the State Corporation "Rosatom" (Russia) Sergei Kirienko.

Sergei Kirienko and Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boiko briefed the Head of the Government that today "Rosatom" and the Ministry of Fuel and Energy signed a contract according to which from January 1, 2011 Russia will supply Ukrainian nuclear power plants with nuclear fuel.

"The contract we signed, would allow producing fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, and you can be sure that by 1 January it will be at Ukrainian nuclear power plants", said Sergei Kirienko.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine expressed his pleasure that the work initiated by the talks between the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev continues. Agreements reached at the intergovernmental level at the sixth meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation of Ukraine -Russian intergovernmental commission, which was held in Sochi, are working: "We continue the work laid in agreements of our presidents and our agreements at intergovernmental level", emphasized Mykola Azarov.

However, the Director General of "Rosatom" said that under the agreement signed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on cooperation on completing the construction of two power units at the Khmelnytskyi NPS, the Russian side will provide the full funding necessary for design, construction and commissioning of the third and fourth power units at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station.

"If this project is successful, we need new nuclear power stations in Russia, new stations in Ukraine, as well as joint building in the third countries", said Sergei Kirienko and added that according to preliminary estimates, the construction of the power unit can be completed in five years.

The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine also has significant experience in building power stations. For example, construction of the second reactor at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station was completed during two years. He added that the joint construction of nuclear power stations projects in Russia, Ukraine and the third countries is very promising and exclusively mutually beneficial.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the development of Ukraine-Russia cooperation. "We develop our relations very gradually and energetically", Mykola Azarov concluded.