Kazakh nuclear company seeks $3 bln Japan insurance

By Mariya Gordeyeva

WEST MYNKUDUK, Kazakhstan, June 3 (Reuters) - Kazakh uranium company Kazatomprom is seeking a $3 billion credit insurance facility from a Japanese company to fund development, Kazatomprom CEO Mukhtar Dzhakishev said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a Japan-Kazakh uranium project, he said his company would borrow within the insured sum to develop refining projects in Kazakhstan and Russia.

"We received our first insurance from NEXI (Nippon Export and Investment Insurance) at 0.25 percent," Dzhakishev told reporters at the opening of the West Mynkuduk uranium mine in southern Kazakhstan.

Kazatomprom owns 65 percent in the West Mynkuduk project while Japan's Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) and Kansai Electric Power Co (9503.T) have 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

The deposit contains 26,000 tonnes of uranium in resources, and is due to produce up to 1,000 tonnes of uranium a year.

"The volume (of the insurance facility) is $300 million at the moment, but we will increase it ten times," Dzhakishev said.

He said Kazatomprom, which expects the deal to be finalised by the end of this year, would then be able to borrow from banks at the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR).

"We have a number of new projects: enrichment in Russia, conversion at the (former military) Ulba plant," he said.