finance
Kazatomprom and Russian Partner Dispute Contributions to Budenovskoye Uranium Joint Venture
Kazatomprom accused Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine of failing to meet 2024 uranium quotas and contribute to an environmental liquidation fund at the Budenovskoye joint venture in Kazakhstan. The venture remains profitable despite the dispute and expects stable operations in 2026.
May 14, 2:00 PM·1m read1 source
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Kazatomprom filed a complaint in early 2026 against Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine, a Rosatom-associated company, asserting that it violated an agreement covering the Budenovskoye joint venture engaged in uranium mining in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan Region.
The complaint states that SGCC failed to contribute to a “liquidation fund” established to remediate potential environmental damage caused by mining operations. It also alleges that SGCC failed to meet its uranium extraction quota in 2024.
SGCC has disputed the Kazakh complaint. ” Despite the dispute, the Budenovskoye JV is profitable and has manageable debt, although liabilities currently outweigh assets by almost 60 million tenge, about $127,000. Kazatomprom owns a 51 percent stake in the Budenovskoye JV.
The report stated: “The company expects positive flows from operating activities in 2026. In addition, the management received appropriate assurances from the company’s participants that they would provide financial and other support, if necessary. 4 million, in 2024.
Com reported that the Budenovskoye uranium joint venture remains profitable and expects stable operations in 2026. Separately, Kazakhstan awarded Rosatom the contract in 2025 to build the country’s first nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash.
In April, Kazakh officials announced that the Russian government had pledged to provide 85 percent of the financing for the nuclear power plant project.
An agreement for the Russian financing has not been finalized. The overall cost of the nuclear project is estimated at $15 billion. Western sanctions were imposed because of the Kremlin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine in 2022.
