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Russian loan sufficient to finish building Belarusian nuclear power plant

OSTROVETS DISTRICT, 28 March (BelTA) – The Russian loan granted to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be sufficient to finish the construction of the power plant, BelTA learned from Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk on 28 March.

The official said: “We estimate the money earmarked in the initial stage of the construction project will be sufficient for us to finish construction. We will track some specific figure closer to the end of the construction process because it depends on many factors, including the exchange rate of the Russian ruble, civil engineering industry rates.”

In his words, there are no disruptions with financing the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant these days.

The deputy energy minister reminded that the Russian loan can be as large as $10 billion and can cover 90% of the construction cost while Belarus is supposed to cover another 10%. The terms were specified when the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant began.

“Together with the general contractor we count every ruble. We optimize prices without cutting corners as far as safety is concerned,” the Belarusian deputy energy minister stressed.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.

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