By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI (Reuters). Despite uncertainty surrounding government permits following Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, Russia’s state-owned power supplier Rosatom will go ahead with a proposed nuclear plant in Finland.

“Rosatom” and “RAOS Project” continue meeting their obligations as per signed agreements and contracts relating Hanhikivi 1,” RAOS Project stated to Reuters by email.

Russia launched a “special operations” in Ukraine. Since then, Mika Lintila (Finnish minister of economic affairs) has stated repeatedly that it is “absolutely impracticable” for the government’s to give a Hanhikivi construction permit.

Fennovoima, a Finnish and Russian consortium, commissioned the plant. Outokumpu’s, Fortum’s, and SSAB are among its two-thirds owners, and Rosatom’s subsidiary RAOS Voima owns the remaining.

Many Finnish stakeholders publicly stated their willingness to quit and close the project. But, they refuse to compensate RAOS Project due to breaches of contracts or possible indemnities.

RAOS Project continues preparatory work on the plant site, on the northwest coast in Finland. However, the project cannot begin construction without a government license.

It wrote that “RAOS Project Ltd, as the… Supplier is acting based upon and in accordance to the engineering procurement and construction contract signed with Fennovoima in December 2013.”

Fennovoima expected to get a government construction license by the summer of 2022 in order to construct the reactor’s 1.2 gigawatt power (GW), while construction would begin in 2023.

Finland’s government wasn’t immediately available to comment.