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Bangladesh, Belarus, Turkey, UAE, and Vietnam to start building their first nuclear power plantsin 2012 and that Jordan and Saudi Arabia could follow in 2013. 62In all cases for these potential first‐time nuclear countries, even in the relatively rich Middle East,finance remains a criterion, if not the decisive one, in determining the choice of technology.However, what is striking is the extent to which in recent years the Russian industry hasexpanded its export policy through financial backing, with proposed projects in countries that arebuilding reactors for the first time, as well as new proposals with financing in countries likeFinland and Hungary that already have operating nuclear power plants. The current situation inUkraine raises questions over both the political support for such projects (especially in Europe)and—with the threat of widening economic sanctions against Russia—its ability to fund all of theprojects. The credibility of many of these projects is questioned also within the industry. LongtimeWorld Nuclear Association (WNA) strategist Steve Kidd considers it “reasonable to suggestthat it is highly unlikely that Russia will succeed in carrying out even half of the projects in whichit claims to be closely involved (…)”. 63Other increasingly active players in the export market are Japanese companies, such as Toshibaand Hitachi. The lack of new‐build opportunities domestically means that export markets havebecome essential to maintain their production capabilities, again with technology salesaccompanied by a financial package. Like Russia, this effort encompasses proposals in countriesthat currently don’t have programs (e.g. Lithuania and Turkey) as well as projects underdevelopment in more developed nuclear countries such as Bulgaria and the UK. The revisedJapanese New Growth Strategy includes an explicit statement that the Government will activelysupport the export of nuclear power. 64 In the future, China and South Korea might also providestate or quasi‐state financing for reactor export projects to support their domestic industries.Such concessionary state financing is seldom on offer for competing exports of renewable anddistributed generators or of energy efficiency.The following section provides a country‐by‐country overview of potential newcomer countries.In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), construction is ongoing at the Barakah nuclearproject, 300 km west of Abu Dhabi, where there are now three, soon to be four reactors, beingbuilt. At the time of the contract signing in December 2009, with Korean Electric Power Corp., theEmirates Nuclear Energy Corp (ENEC), said that “the contract for the construction, commissioning62 Lucas W Hixson, “IAEA – Vietnam and 4 other countries to incorporate nuclear energy after Fukushima”,Enformable.com, 24 February 2012, see http://enformable.com/2012/02/iaea‐vietnam‐and‐4‐othercountries‐to‐incorporate‐nuclear‐energy‐after‐fukushima/,accessed 5 May 2015.63 Steve Kidd, “The world nuclear industry – is it in terminal decline?”, NEI, 6 October 2014, seehttp://www.neimagazine.com/opinion/opinionthe‐world‐nuclear‐industry‐is‐it‐in‐terminal‐decline‐4394815/,accessed 7 June 2015.64 Satoru Koyama, “The Role of Export Credits in NPP Financing”, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance(NEXI), September 2013, see http://www.oecdnea.org/ndd/workshops/wpne/presentations/docs/3_1_KOYAMA_2013_09_19_OECD_Seminer.pdf,accessed14 July 2014.Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2015 43