Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to Remove 'Loan Support' Conditions... Adds Over 400 Doosan Partner Companies

KHNP Signs Agreement with IBK This Month to Support Loans for Partner Companies
Initially Limited to 1st and 2nd Tier Partners... Expanded Support to All Partners
Doosan Enerbility and Others Benefit... Over 400 Additional Nuclear Power Partners Expected

Panoramic view of Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Korea's first exported nuclear power plant.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Junhyung] Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is significantly expanding its financial support program to large corporate partners such as Doosan Enerbility. This decision comes from the judgment that financial support for partner companies must be strengthened to restore the domestic nuclear power ecosystem, which has collapsed over the past five years due to the 'nuclear phase-out' policy.

According to related ministries on the 9th, KHNP plans to sign a 'Win-Win Growth Cooperation Agreement' with IBK Industrial Bank of Korea within this month. This agreement is a revised version of the agreement KHNP signed with IBK in July. The main point of the revision is to abolish the eligibility conditions for the 'Win-Win Growth Cooperation Loan' project that KHNP is promoting in partnership with IBK. As a result, the loan support target will be expanded from KHNP's first- and second-tier partners to all partner companies.

The Win-Win Growth Cooperation Loan is a project where KHNP supports partner companies with low-interest loans. KHNP deposits hundreds of billions of won in funds with the bank interest-free, and the bank provides low-interest loans to partner companies. Through this project, KHNP partners can receive loans up to 2 billion won at interest rates 1-2 percentage points lower than general unsecured loans. As of September, about 100 KHNP partner companies have received low-interest loans totaling 100 billion won.

The background for preparing the revision just four months after signing the agreement with IBK lies in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's nuclear policy. Since the current government took office, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has repeatedly announced plans to strengthen financial support for the nuclear power industry, which has faced liquidity supply difficulties due to the nuclear phase-out policy. However, since KHNP's loan support was limited to first- and second-tier partners, some small and medium-sized enterprises in urgent need of funding were unable to receive loan support. In particular, many partner companies of Doosan Enerbility, KHNP's first-tier partner, were excluded from the loan support target.

The revision of the agreement is expected to greatly increase the number of loan support targets. KHNP expects that about 400 partner companies of Doosan Enerbility will be added to the support target through the agreement revision. Doosan Enerbility has a total of 806 partner companies in the nuclear power sector.

For business efficiency, KHNP also decided to integrate the loan support funds that were separately deposited in two banks. Initially, KHNP had established funds of 100 billion won and 20 billion won with IBK and Shinhan Bank respectively to promote the Win-Win Growth Cooperation Loan project. KHNP plans to transfer the 10 billion won deposit from Shinhan Bank to IBK early next year and launch a single loan project worth 120 billion won.

Part of the funds raised for the Partner Company Tomorrow Filling Deduction (Naeil Chaeum Gongje) will also be combined with the Win-Win Growth Cooperation Loan project. The integration target is 20 billion won out of the 40 billion won deposit KHNP placed with IBK for the Tomorrow Filling Deduction support project. Once KHNP completes the integration, the deposit amount for the Win-Win Growth Cooperation Loan will increase from the existing 50 billion won to 70 billion won, and the loan limit will rise from 120 billion won to 160 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.