Russia to lend Belarus up to $10bn to build NPP

The Russian government has instructed the Finance Ministry to sign a protocol to provide Belarus with a government loan of up to $10 billion to construct the nuclear power plant.

The Russian side will grant Belarus the government export loan of up to $10 billion to finance 90% of the cost of each contract signed between the Russian general contractor and the Belarusian customer. These contracts stipulate the provision of goods, works and services by the Russian side for the construction of two power-generating units on the territory of Belarus, the document reads.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO ASE is the general designer and the general contractor of the project. The AES-2006 design developed by the Saint Petersburg-based R&D company Atomenergoproject has been chosen for building Belarus' first nuclear power plant.