Lukashenko's Statements On The BelAES Raise A Number Of Questions

14.11.2025, 14:47
10,062

So what, exactly, are the accomplishments?

Lukashenko convened a meeting on the development of nuclear energy, where he summarized the results of the work of BelNPP for five years in order to once again somehow justify the need to build a second nuclear power plant or the third unit of the existing plant, writes "Salidarnasts".

At first glance, convincing figures were used. But if we dig them a little deeper, the "achievements" do not look significant at all and raise a number of questions.

The economic failure and political failure of the BelNPP project were written just the day before.Now let's go through the arguments of the ruler about ensuring "energy security, sovereignty and independence".

The plant has generated over 53 billion kilowatt-hours for the entire time, which allowed to completely refuse to import electricity;

In fact, there was no shortage long before the commissioning of BelNPP - the Ministry of Energy reported about the refusal of electricity imports back in 2018. The Belarusian authorities' calculation that they would be able to sell the surplus to neighboring countries failed: both Ukraine and the Baltic States refused to do so.

The attitude of Belarusians to the peaceful atom has changed. According to sociologists, at the beginning of the construction of BelNPP it was supported by 60% of the population, while today - more than 80;

In the country, where all sociology is controlled by the state, and independent research is equated with state treason, one can write anything in statistical reports. According to the CEC, Lukashenko had a record popular support of 86.82% of the vote in early 2025. That did not make the fictitious "elections" any real, and he was elected president.

In 2024, a historic maximum in energy consumption will be reached: 43.3 billion kilowatt-hours;

Of course it will. After all, if there is nowhere to put electricity, we have to reduce the load from thermal power plants, running on natural gas, and dream of mining farms.

100 percent of the population have access to electricity;

Minute. So before the commissioning of the BelNPP in the center of Europe and the "island of stability" not everyone had access to electricity? And this under decades of Lukashenko's "wise leadership"? As they say, there are questions to the head of the transport shop.

Belarus ranks 3rd among the European countries with the lowest price for electricity;

But at the same time, our country looks much worse in terms of access to electricity for people earning average wages - on the 19th line out of 37 countries. And electricity tariffs are rising every year, not becoming cheaper as promised by the authorities.

More than 44,000 electric cars are in use in the country;

Is this a success? No. Let's look at neighboring Lithuania - in January 2025 there were 28.4 thousand electric cars registered, by June there were more than 34 thousand registered. At the same time Lithuania has closed the nuclear power plant, and the population of the country is three times less than in Belarus.

The population of Astravets, the city of nuclear workers, has increased from 8 to 15 thousand people. 3 thousand people work at BelNPP, one third of them are young people.

Let's write down: one of the main achievements from the construction of BelNPP, according to the ruler's version - 3 thousand jobs and internal labor migration to the district center. This "most important driver of regional development" cost our country, let's remind, $5.36 billion dollars of the Russian loan.

A very, very expensive way to develop the region, isn't it? And if Lukashenko "sells" the utilization of the new loan and the construction of a new nuclear power plant, which Belarus does not need, the debt will grow many times over.

So what, in fact, are the achievements?

PATREON Support the website

Write your comment 5

Lukashenko's Statements On The BelAES Raise A Number Of Questions

Follow Charter97.org social media accounts

Interview

Opinion