Contracts for completion of Mochovce NPP signed

June 12, 2009

PRIME Minister Robert Fico and Paolo Ruzzini, general director of Slovakia's electricity generator Slovenske Elektrarne, on Thursday announced the signing of contracts with the main suppliers involved in the completion of the third and fourth reactor blocks at the Mochovce nuclear power plant.

The suppliers are Skoda Nuclear Engineering, Atomstrojexport, Nuclear Energy Research Institute (VUJE), Enseco, and Engineering Projects Kosice.

"I'd like to congratulate the companies that have agreed on this important project, and I'm convinced that it will be one of the most successful projects of its kind in Slovakia's history," Fico said. According to him, the investment, worth €2.7 billion, will contribute towards tackling the effects of the global economic crisis on the Slovak economy.

Ruzzini repeatedly confirmed that the company will meet the deadlines for the completion of both third [2012] and fourth [2013] blocks, and that everything is going according to plan so far.

"The overall sum set aside for this project, including the signed contracts, is more than €1.3 billion, which is almost half of the overall investment costs planned for the completion work of €2.7 billion," Ruzzini said, adding that the financing will be provided by SE's own resources, meaning that there will not be any burden on the state budget.

The construction of the third and fourth blocks of the power plant was launched in November 2008, with as many as 3,500 people due to work on the project before it is completed in 2013. When the facilities are ready for use, the power plant as a whole should be able to produce up to 45 percent of Slovakia's electricity consumption.