OREANDA-NEWS. On April 23, a "round table" on legislative support of the uranium mining industry in Russia will be held at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.

The roundtable will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources, Federal Agency on Subsoil Use, Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Use, Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. ARMZ delegation will be headed by Vladimir Verkhovtsev, general director of ARMZ.

Roundtable participants will discuss the prospects of the industry which has strategic importance for the country, analyze state support measures aimed at creating favorable conditions for the efficient operation of uranium mining companies in Russia.
The event is especially important in the context of persisting unfavorable situation in the world uranium market, bearing in mind that after the accident at the nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 in 2011 all the Japanese reactors were stopped, which led to a sharp decline in demand and falling prices for natural uranium. Optimistic forecasts of rapid recovery in demand did not materialize. In June 2014, spot uranium prices fell to a 9-year minimum - less than 73 USD per kilogram, and increase to 102.8 (average for March 2015) does not yet guarantee major changes in the market.

“Uranium is a strategically important raw material for our nation, a fundamental link in the development of the Russia's nuclear shield. ARMZ’s assets currently meet all the needs of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation in natural uranium. However, with the introduction of new capacities already in 2025 the world may face a shortage of nuclear fuel. Government support measures can ensure cost-effective production of uranium in the long term” – noted Vladimir Verkhovtsev.

The company considers key measures of state support to be the introduction of preferential tax treatment, simplification of obtaining subsoil use rights, finalization of inclusion of the single-industry town of Krasnokamensk, where the Russia's largest uranium mining company PJSC PIMCU operates, into the list of advanced socio-economic development territories.