Russian government on 13 July approved a state loan for construction of Ruppur NPP in Bangladesh. The government approved a state export loan to finance construction of the plant by approving the draft of the relevant intergovernmental agreement. The authorized organizations for the loan will be Russia’s Vnesheconombank and the Bengali leading state commercial bank Sonali Bank Limited.
Russian government on 13 July approved a state loan for construction of Ruppur NPP in Bangladesh. The government approved a state export loan to finance construction of the plant by approving the draft of the relevant intergovernmental agreement. The authorized organizations for the loan will be Russia’s Vnesheconombank and the Bengali leading state commercial bank Sonali Bank Limited.
The amount of the loan was withheld but government meeting documents referred to statement by state nuclear corporation Rosatom that taxes to the Russian budget during construction and operation of the Ruppur plant would be up to $8.4bn. The Bangladesh cabinet approved the bilateral loan agreement on 28 June and cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said the amount of the loan would be $11.38bn with the total cost of the project being $12.65bn. The loan will be given on LIBOR terms plus 1.75% but not greater than 4% interest with a maturity period is 30 year and a grace period of 10 years.
The general contract between Russia and Bangladesh for construction of Ruppur plant consisting of two VVER-1200 reactors was signed is December 2015. The plant is to be built on the bank of the Padma River in Pabna Province 160 km to the north-west of Dhaka. The first reactor is planned to start up in 2023.