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Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has won a ruling in its long-running dispute with Finnish utility Fennovoima over the cancellation of a planned nuclear power plant in northern Finland, reopening a legal battle over the €7 billion ($7.8 billion) project.
The dispute stems from Fennovoima's decision in May 2022 to scrap the Hanhikivi-1 project, citing significant delays and growing political risks following the war in Ukraine.
Rosatom maintains that the project was progressing well when the Finnish company ended the agreement.
An International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal ruled that Fennovoima unlawfully terminated the construction contract in 2022, according to Rosatom, which announced the decision Saturday.
Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev welcomed the ruling but made clear that the company would pursue further legal action.
"Today's victory is important, but not final. We will continue to prove that we are right regarding the Finnish project in courts of various instances," Likhachev said in a statement.
Rosatom also argued that Finland missed an opportunity to secure a modern nuclear power plant that would have supplied relatively inexpensive, low-carbon electricity.
The arbitration ruling addresses the legality of terminating the contract, but it does not settle all financial claims arising from the project's cancellation. Rosatom has launched additional proceedings, with the final amounts to be recovered from the Finnish side dependent on the outcomes of the remaining cases.
Fennovoima and Rosatom signed the construction contract in 2013 for a 1.2-gigawatt nuclear power plant designed to meet about 10% of Finland's electricity demand.
Finnish stakeholders, including Fortum, Outokumpu and SSAB, originally controlled two-thirds of the consortium through a joint venture, while the Russian side held the remaining third.
The project carried an estimated investment of €7 billion to €7.5 billion. Companies from Finland and other European Union countries were expected to account for €1.8 billion to €2.7 billion of the project's localized investment.
Rosatom also pointed to an earlier ruling by an international group of experts four years ago that found Finland's withdrawal from the project unjustified and the termination of the construction contract unlawful.
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