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The Anti-Monopoly Committee (AMC) of Ukraine has for the second time upheld a complaint by a Russian company, Ukrspetsenergopostach, against Ukrainian nuclear power producer Energoatom.

Ukrspetsenergopostach argued that Energoatom should not be allowedÌýto buyÌýspare partsÌýfor MCP-195 main circulation pumps - which cool the primary circuit of Russian-design VVER-1000 reactors -Ìýfrom Frunze, an engineering company based in Sumy, Ukraine.

During a hearing last November, the AMCÌýagreed with Ukrspetsenergopostach's argumentÌýthat Frunze does not have the right to manufacture spare parts for the MCP-195, since Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom owns the relevant technical documentation for this equipment.ÌýFollowing a decision taken on 21 January, the AMC has now banned Energoatom from sourcing the parts from Frunze.

Energoatom said in a statement yesterday that the AMC had effectively "shown preference to an intermediary that pushes the products of Russian producers and is on the black list of suppliers that have repeatedly disrupted the supply of equipment to nuclear power plants."

Kiev-based Ukrspetsenergopostach argued that Energoatom had violated the rules of its own procurement procedure and the AMC agreed it had been anti-competitive. The AMC ruled that Energoatom should cancel its contract with Frunze even though Energoatom argues it is the only producer of the specific items of equipment it needs.

"How could this intermediary suddenly appear from nowhere with the Sumy company's equipment if it has always insisted on the unique design of Russian manufacturers that apparently no one in Ukraine has the right to produce?" Energoatom said. "We suspect that Ukrspetsenergopostach has colluded with [Kiev-based investment group] Pershe Dzherelo, which has previously bought spare parts for pumps from Frunze and has already tried to offer them to us at double the price that we can get directly from the manufacturer."

Energoatom said it believed the matter involving the AMC had been "created artificially", either to go against the government's stated policy to replace imports with domestic production where possible, or to disrupt Energoatom's plant maintenance schedule.

Researched and written
by ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Nuclear News