Lukashenka Asks Russia To Postpone Payment On BelNPP Construction Loan

First Deputy Prime Minister Krutoi has announced it.

The governments of Belarus and Russia will discuss the terms of the loan for the BelNPP construction. This was stated by First Vice-Premier of the Belarusian government Dzmitry Krutoi to reporters, as he was commenting on the results of the "high-level" talks in Sochi on February 7, BelTA informs.

- They spent a lot of time considering the situation with the construction of the nuclear power plant in Astravets. To date, this is probably the most significant joint "integration project". As for the first block, we are now approaching a very important stage of commissioning. It is clear that here it is very important to move carefully and to check all the steps very thoroughly, - First Deputy Prime Minister said. - It is ordered to all responsible persons (both from Rosatom and our Ministry of Energy) to set the final schedule for completing work on the first block by the end of February.

- Plus, the governments should negotiate on the terms of the loan to finance the station. Taking into account a certain shift of deadlines, which has already taken place, - Dzmitry Krutoi said.

Responding to the clarifying question on the changes in the loan terms, Dzmitry Krutoi explained that it's still a subject of negotiations between relevant departments and ministries of finance. "There is an obvious decision taking into account a slight delay in terms. We ask to postpone the start of paying off the loan. Plus, we ask not to bear additional burdens, to extend the term of this loan and slightly reduce the interest rate, bringing it in line with the contracts that Rosatom has in other countries. There may be a small adjustment in the interest rate. But it's too early to talk about final agreements here, experts have yet to work on them seriously," - he said.

As previously reported, on November 25, 2011, the intergovernmental agreement on granting the Belarusian government a state export credit for constructing a nuclear power plant was signed. The funds were provided to finance 90% of the work for the NPP construction. Another 10% is paid by the Belarusian side.

The Belarusian NPP with two VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 MW is being built under the Russian project near Astravets (Hrodna region).