Background Information

The first-ever U.S. - Ukraine Conference on Nuclear Trade and Cooperation will be held November 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C. The purpose is to bring together commercial interests from both countries to discuss and improve understanding about opportunities for nuclear commerce. The goal is to establish more normalized trade between the United States and Ukraine in civil nuclear reactors, components, nuclear fuel, and associated technologies. The conference is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) effort to help the Ukrainian private sector develop and commercialize nuclear technologies and products in cooperation with U.S. industry.

The value of international partnership between the United States and Ukraine was emphasized by U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma during the July 1998 U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission meeting, in Kyiv. There, the two leaders "underscored the importance of reinforcing the United States-Ukraine strategic partnership in all spheres," in a joint statement.

"[Gore and Kuchman] reflected on the progress Ukraine has made toward establishing a democratic and market-oriented state and underscored that this was a crucial time to redouble cooperative efforts to assure Ukraine's continued process of economic and political reform, to encourage its integration with Europe and the rest of the international community and to bring prosperity to the Ukrainian people," the statement reported.

The U.S. Department of Energy is hosting the conference in coordination with the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, the Foreign Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. A Ukrainian steering committee, organized by the country's Ministry of Energy, is involved in conference planning on the Ukrainian side.

Ukrainian and U.S. participation in the November conference will include nuclear scientific institute representatives, vendors and service providers; commercial nuclear power representatives, both public and private; and international investment officials. More than 120 people are expected to attend, with one-third from Ukraine.

A Technology Commercialization Workshop for Ukrainian enterprises will be held Oct. 19-23 at the Chornobyl Center for Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Radioecology in Slavutych, Ukraine, to assist Ukrainian participants in preparing for the conference. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is providing training on business planning and marketing for Ukrainian firms expected to attend the conference. These companies will showcase the products and services they will bring to the conference at the October workshop.

During the two-day November conference, representatives of Ukrainian enterprises will present their products and technologies to an audience of U.S. businesses interested in establishing commercial relationships with Ukrainian firms. Ukrainian participants will be briefed on the U.S. nuclear energy market in a morning workshop on the first day of the conference, November 9. This workshop is designed to help Ukrainian participants understand better what the U.S. market is looking for, and to familiarize them with principles of international investment, finance, and liability; as well as U.S. regulatory requirements when marketing to the U.S. nuclear sector.

Attendees will hear U.S. and Ukraine government and industry spokespersons discuss commercial opportunities in Ukraine's nuclear industry and opportunities for market entry. In addition, speakers will cover economic restructuring in Ukraine, Ukrainian tax and liability requirements, the atmosphere for western investment, and financing for joint ventures and other forms of investment in Ukraine.

Following the conference, Ukrainians will have the opportunity to visit U.S. firms with an interest in sales, investments and in working with Ukrainian firms wishing to enter the U.S. nuclear energy market. By late November, a list of the Ukrainian firms participating in the conference will be available on the Internet at the U.S. - Ukraine Conference on Nuclear Trade and Cooperation site (https://insp.pnnl.gov/?reports/ukuscon/intro). This database should help companies interested in pursuing commercial relationships in Ukraine determine which Ukrainian firms have the appropriate technical basis, as well as an interest in doing business in U.S. markets, from direct sales to joint ventures or foreign investment. A follow-on conference is planned for spring 1999 in Ukraine, to allow for greater Ukrainian participation.

One of the main outcomes of these conferences is expected to be to pinpoint obstacles to expanded cooperation, trade and investment in the nuclear sector and suggest solutions and next steps to overcome them.