French nuclear power group Areva objected strongly today to an overnight announcement by German group Siemens that it is to create a rival venture with Russian group Rosatom.
Siemens recently ended a cooperation agreement with French state-controlled Areva and their joint company Areva NP is to come to an end by January 30, 2012.
Areva said today that the draft agreement between Siemens and Rosatom amounted to a "unilateral breach of contractual obligations" towards Areva.
The head of communications at Areva, Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier said that Siemens was "linked by a shareholder pact signed on January 30, 2001, between Areva and Siemens, which contains notably a non-competition clause".
Siemens still owned 34 per cent of Areva NP, the nuclear reactor subsidiary of Areva, he said.
"Therefore, for Areva, the announcement of this joint company puts Siemens in breach of its contractual obligations, with all the consequences which flow from this."
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The shareholder pact was not made public, but the move by Siemens could affect the value of Siemens' shares in Areva NP.
Until now, its holding was valued at about $2.5 billion. Areva was to buy it by 2012, and the two groups were to work on a valuation with this in view.