Credit line open for Belarus project
Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank is to provide a loan of $500 million over eight years for the financing of Belarus's first nuclear power plant under a newly signed agreement.Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank is to provide a loan of $500 million over eight years for the financing of Belarus's first nuclear power plant under a newly signed agreement.
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| The signing of the credit agreement (Image: BelVEB) |
The agreement was signed at a ceremony in Minsk by Belarus's ministry of finance, Vnesheconombank and commercial Belarusian bank BelVEB. The credit facilities are to be used to fund advance payments for the construction of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant under the export contract between Russia's AtomStroyExport and the Belarus Nuclear Power Plant state unitary enterprise.
A second agreement was signed by the Belarusian ministries of finance and energy, the Belarus Nuclear Power Plant state unitary enterprise and BelVEB to set out the procedures for the implementation and repayment of the loan. The Belarusian side will be able to start using the credit funds this month.
Work is already under way on Ostrovets 1, the first of two 1200 MWe AES-2006 reactor units planned for the site in the Grodno region of Belarus. The units are being built under a $10 billion turnkey contract between Belarus and Rosatom, which was finalised in July 2012. Unit 1 is expected to start up in late 2018, with unit 2 set for commissioning in mid-2020.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
