Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said Armenia risks losing its capabilities in the field of nuclear energy if it abandons Russian nuclear technologies.
“Armenia is the only country in the Caucasus proudly carrying the flag of nuclear energy. Moreover, it is not only carrying that flag effectively but also solving one of the key issues of energy supply and grid stability,” Likhachev stated.
“In my opinion, losing those capabilities — in other words, losing nuclear energy altogether because of abandoning Russian technologies — would, to put it mildly, be an absolutely uneconomical step,” he added.
Likhachev said Yerevan would need to make a decision by 2026–2027 regarding a partner for the further development of nuclear energy after 2036.
According to him, the timeframe is critically important, while the situation remains “quite paradoxical,” though the final decision will belong to Armenia.
The Rosatom chief argued that there are effectively only two full-fledged nuclear technologies in the world — American and Soviet, which later became Russian.
“All other technologies are modifications of those systems,” he said.
“At a minimum, Armenia would have to completely retrain specialists for entirely different technologies. They have the right to choose American technology, but that would require a full transformation of both personnel training systems and operational expertise,” Likhachev explained.
He also expressed doubts about the readiness of American small modular reactor technologies for practical use, saying there are currently no such facilities under construction anywhere in the world.
“In my opinion, making a decision based only on presentations is not a very practical economic approach either,” the Rosatom chief concluded.
Earlier the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia had warned Armenia about the possible suspension of agreements on gas and petroleum supplies if the process of joining the European Union continues. A letter from Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilyov was delivered to Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also stated that Armenian citizens should independently decide which alliances they want to join. He added that European Union membership remains a distant prospect for Yerevan. As an example, Peskov mentioned Turkey, saying that for many years it has been kept waiting with promises of EU accession. According to him, membership in the bloc has become an “unrealizable dream” for many countries.
