News
Publish date: February 27, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
Shareholder representatives of the Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCo) cited 1997 losses for their proposal to rid themselves of the atomic ice-breaker fleet. The proposal was drawn at MSCo’s annual meeting in Moscow in early February. The operation of the nuclear-powered fleet was blamed for part of the losses.
MSCo is a joint stock company. Forty percent of the shares belong to Menatep Bank, 35% to the state and 25% are in the hands of private investors. In addition to the conventional fleet, MSCo operates seven nuclear-powered ice-breakers and one atomic light vessel. The civilian nuclear fleet has its base in Murmansk, on the Kola Peninsula. All nuclear-powered vessels are federal property and their operational expenses are supposed to be covered through federal appropriations. Last year, however, only a fraction of the expenses were actually paid by the state.
Different ways to solve the problem are under consideration, Vaycheslav Ruksha, the director of the atomic fleet of MSCo, told Bellona WEB in an interview. One of the options is to create an Arctic Ice-Breaker Company as a venture totally or partly independent from MSCo, he added.
But Ruksha was unsure about the chances that any of the proposed structural changes will indeed be implemented.
The discussion over possibilities for MSCo to split from the atomic fleet has raged ever since MSCo became a joint stock company in 1993. But so far the issue has always ended in talk. The dispute has become increasingly acrimonious year after year, since the federal government cannot fund the full operating costs of the atomic fleet. This year seems to be no exception to this rule.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.