Ukraine should have a strong position in the issue of its own uranium mining. Taking into account the strong place of Russia in the industry and its friendship with Kazakhstan, all the matters of cooperation with Kazakh companies should be thought over.
According to the Ministry of energy and coal industry strategic planning and European integration department director Mikhail Bno-Ayriyan, Kazakhstan is one of the CIS leaders in uranium mining, using underground leaching.
“Kazakhstan has been historically using this method, and they also have a joint venture with Russia in uranium processing. So they are very integrated with Russia and are one of the main raw materials suppliers to Rosatom”, he said.
Despite this Ukraine is actively negotiating cooperation with Kazakhstan in uranium mining.
“For the past 2 years we had a lot of talks with them. And I believe this could be developed, but care should be taken in this matter, as Russia’s position there is strong”, the expert added.
Ukraine needs investments to develop uranium industry, he said.
“There are other countries that are leading in uranium mining. Australia, for example. We could cooperate with it and attract its investments”, Bno-Ayriyan explained. (Ukrainian metal)