By Murat Temizer
ANKARA
The Finnish government gave its approval to Russian energy company Rosatom and Finnish energy company Fennovoima's construction of a nuclear power plant in Pyhajoki, a municipality in western Finland, the government announced on Monday.
The government made a positive decision in principle for the nuclear power plant in 2010 and for four years the Northern European country debated the issue. The parliament voted on Friday with 115-74 in favor of its go-ahead.
By the time the energy company Fennovoima applies for the construction license, the Finnish side of the agreement will have to demonstrate a degree of domestic ownership of at least 60 percent.
"This is a question of protecting the national interest and guaranteeing the control and security of supply of Finland’s energy policy, and on the other hand, it is a question of the overall acceptability of the project," said the government in a press release.
"This condition of ownership is also binding on future governments," it added.
Finland’s energy giant Fortum plans to make an investment of up to 15 percent in the nuclear power plant project, the company announced on Dec. 2, 2014.
The new nuclear power plant, which will be constructed with Russia, became a big problem for Finland especially in 2014. Following the Finnish government's decision to grant permission to build a new nuclear reactor, partly owned by Russian energy company Rosatom, in the northern part of the country, the Green Party announced in October that they could not continue participating in a government that supports nuclear energy.
The Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has stated that cooperation with Russia's Rosatom was not a problem for Finland's international reputation.
"Neither European sanctions nor the Ukrainian crisis involving Moscow will affect Finland's cooperation with Russia's state-run nuclear company Rosatom," Stubb said in October.
www.aa.com.tr/en
