Japan Press Weekly

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2013 October 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

TEPCO pays 82.4 bil. yen in interest to megabanks while reluctant to pay compensation to Fukushima victims

It has come to light that the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant operator has been paying interest payments to megabanks which should also shoulder the liability for the nuclear disaster while showing reluctance to compensate nuclear disaster victims.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Shiokawa Tetsuya revealed this fact.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, from April 2011 to the end of June this year, made to banks payments totaling 82.4 billion yen in interest on long- and short-term bank loans.

These banks, as TEPCO’s major shareholders, should be responsible for recompensing victims of the Fukushima nuclear accident. The plant operator, however, seems unwilling to ask the banks for special measures such as payment of interest with lower rates, relief from interest payment, or loan forgiveness.

Yokemoto Masafumi, professor at Osaka City University Graduate School of Business, said that TEPCO’s shareholders and TEPCO-related financial firms should take due responsibility for damages caused by the nuclear disaster.

The JCP representative pointed out the need for the government to launch delinquent procedures against the utility and to request megabanks as major shareholders to play a role in paying compensation to victims.