Rosatom CEO Likhachev Says Sanctions Against Russia Systematically Harm Major Players Including US

The first thing this conversation demonstrates is the immense effectiveness of the dialogue between our presidents. A relatively brief conversation took place and all the decisions regarding the lifting of sanctions, the signing of contracts and so on began to be implemented at lightning speed. In other words, this shows just how much potential there is in the contact between our presidents. This is perhaps the most powerful resource on the planet today. That is the first point. Second, this gradually reveals the economic essence of the sanctions. They have now reached such a point that they are beginning to systematically harm major players such as the United States of America. The United States of America is the most innovative economy in the world, yet it cannot function without certain goods that are subject to sanctions. And whilst we are discussing the negative impact of the lack of supplies of diesel, petroleum products and crude oil from Russia to the US, just imagine what the negative effect of such a ban on uranium supplies would be. This is a market that is far more monopolized and price-sensitive, and is of fundamental importance not only to the economy but also to the security of the nuclear industry. Therefore taking these factors into account, we are, of course, all committed to continuing to develop a constructive dialogue, provided, of course, that the objectives of the special military operation are achieved and the security and interests of our country are safeguarded. Yesterday, an official court in Sweden incidentally, confirmed that the Finnish side's termination of our contract was unlawful. I do not wish to go into the legal details at this point, I have no doubts about this. The only question is, a. the legal validity and b. the unfriendliness and hostility of Western countries and governments towards Russia in general, and towards Rosatom in particular. That is why it is rather difficult for us to pursue this agenda of establishing true justice. I think it's clear what we're talking about. The second point is more important to me you see because we generate our own revenue, we don't make money from fines and penalties. We have a completely different objective. That is our task, so overall of course there's little cause for celebration. Instead of spending these five years in court, we could have built the plant in that time. This decision dealt a blow to the whole of eastern Finland, affecting a whole range of domestic investment projects. A huge number of jobs were lost and most importantly, a tremendous opportunity you see for a vast region spanning the whole country. It's extremely frustrating. To be perfectly honest, perhaps even a bit too honest, this unit didn't make much of a difference to us, either in terms of revenue or capacity utilization. Given our existing under-construction and potential units, it's practically negligible. But the fact that Finland has not just kept pace, but has shot ahead to a different, in my view more significant position, that is a perfectly clear, undeniable fact. We will see this legal process through to the end, and I still hold out hope that, once the political storm has subsided and these oddities in the behavior of certain EU countries have been resolved, the Finnish government will return to this issue. Just as the Bulgarian government is now returning to this idea, at least, to the development of nuclear energy. We followed this path in Bulgaria about 10 years ago and, on the whole, did so in a legally sound and successful manner. We have been working successfully with Kamaz, automobile plant. And the Kamaz management team has attracted young, highly talented people, people who, I would say, do not get bogged down by formalities and restrictions, and invited us to join the company, initially as investors then as battery suppliers. And as they say, appetite comes with eating, we realized we could develop the car's core components, the engine and the control system. And so, one thing led to another, as they say we got drawn into this work and now we have more than enough expertise to build a truly Russian electric car that is completely independent of imports. I liked it. Unfortunately, I very rarely get the chance as they say to get behind the wheel. As a driver I've only ever driven a large heavy off-roader, but this car is a bit different, you can practically drive it all with just one finger you see it's very responsive, it's very easy to handle, and the interior is anything but run of the mill. I haven't quite got to grips with all the finer points of its controls yet, but this system, dubbed, a smart gadget, not a car, it really works. Of course what's most striking is that when you're not distracted by the road whilst waiting for someone or say whilst refueling, you can go online or watch films right through the windscreen. It seems to me that it is not simply the popularity, but in a sense the inevitability of electric propulsion. This is the trend for the next 15 to 20 years. In other words clearly, there is no need for any revolutions. It is clear that we must treat the existing internal combustion engine technologies with great care. And internal combustion engines will remain in demand for quite some time yet. The first thing this conversation demonstrates is the immense effectiveness of the dialogue between our presidents. A relatively brief conversation took place and all the decisions regarding the lifting of sanctions, the signing of contracts and so on began to be implemented at lightning speed. In other words, this shows just how much potential there is in the contact between our presidents. This is perhaps the most powerful resource on the planet today. That is the first point. Second, this gradually reveals the economic essence of the sanctions. They have now reached such a point that they are beginning to systematically harm major players such as the United States of America. The United States of America is the most innovative economy in the world, yet it cannot function without certain goods that are subject to sanctions. And whilst we are discussing the negative impact of the lack of supplies of diesel, petroleum products and crude oil from Russia to the US, just imagine what the negative effect of such a ban on uranium supplies would be. This is a market that is far more monopolized and price-sensitive, and is of fundamental importance not only to the economy but also to the security of the nuclear industry. Therefore taking these factors into account, we are, of course, all committed to continuing to develop a constructive dialogue, provided, of course, that the objectives of the special military operation are achieved and the security and interests of our country are safeguarded. Yesterday, an official court in Sweden incidentally, confirmed that the Finnish side's termination of our contract was unlawful. I do not wish to go into the legal details at this point, I have no doubts about this. The only question is, a. the legal validity and b. the unfriendliness and hostility of Western countries and governments towards Russia in general, and towards Rosatom in particular. That is why it is rather difficult for us to pursue this agenda of establishing true justice. I think it's clear what we're talking about. The second point is more important to me you see because we generate our own revenue, we don't make money from fines and penalties. We have a completely different objective. That is our task, so overall of course there's little cause for celebration. Instead of spending these five years in court, we could have built the plant in that time. This decision dealt a blow to the whole of eastern Finland, affecting a whole range of domestic investment projects. A huge number of jobs were lost and most importantly, a tremendous opportunity you see for a vast region spanning the whole country. It's extremely frustrating. To be perfectly honest, perhaps even a bit too honest, this unit didn't make much of a difference to us, either in terms of revenue or capacity utilization. Given our existing under-construction and potential units, it's practically negligible. But the fact that Finland has not just kept pace, but has shot ahead to a different, in my view more significant position, that is a perfectly clear, undeniable fact. We will see this legal process through to the end, and I still hold out hope that, once the political storm has subsided and these oddities in the behavior of certain EU countries have been resolved, the Finnish government will return to this issue. Just as the Bulgarian government is now returning to this idea, at least to the development of nuclear energy. We followed this path in Bulgaria about 10 years ago and, on the whole, did so in a legally sound and successful manner. We have been working successfully with Kamaz, automobile plant. And the Kamaz management team has attracted young, highly talented people, people who, I would say, do not get bogged down by formalities and restrictions, and invited us to join the company, initially as investors then as battery suppliers. And as they say, appetite comes with eating, we realized we could develop the car's core components, the engine and the control system. And so, one thing led to another as they say we got drawn into this work and now we have more than enough expertise to build a truly Russian electric car that is completely independent of imports. I liked it. Unfortunately, I very rarely get the chance as they say to get behind the wheel. As a driver, I've only ever driven a large heavy off-roader, but this car is a bit different, you can practically drive it all with just one finger, you see it's very responsive, it's very easy to handle, and the interior is anything but run-of-the-mill. I haven't quite got to grips with all the finer points of its controls yet, but this system, dubbed, a smart gadget, not a car, it really works. Of course, what's most striking is that when you're not distracted by the road whilst waiting for someone or say whilst refueling, you can go online or watch films right through the windscreen. It seems to me that it is not simply the popularity, but in a sense the inevitability of electric propulsion. This is the trend for the next 15 to 20 years. In other words clearly, there is no need for any revolutions. It is clear that we must treat the existing internal combustion engine technologies with great care. And internal combustion engines will remain in demand for quite some time yet. If you like this video, then like, share, and subscribe to MirrorNow.