KIEV (Focus News) -- “Ukraine plans to build three new nuclear plants in addition to its five plants and in about three years it will build facilities for production of nuclear fuel, which is currently supplied mostly by Russia”, Ukrainian political commentator Rostislav Martinyuk said in an interview with Focus News Agency.

Answering the question whether Ukraine would start using nuclear power more and more to satisfy its energy needs, he said that it was one of the ways to achieve energy independence.

“The gas war was a turning point in the conscience of Ukraine and, in particular, of the political elite, which has realized that under certain conditions the country can’t rely on regular gas supplies from the east and it’s the most powerful means of putting pressure on Kiev.

“Nuclear energy will become a key instrument for the achievement of energy independence of the country, as President Viktor Yushchenko already said,” Martinyuk added.