Russian Duma ratifies amendments to loan agreements for Rooppur nuclear plant construction in Bangladesh

MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma on Tuesday ratified amendments to four Russian-Bangladesh intergovernmental loan agreements related to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.

The government submitted the document (No. 1136819-8) to the lower house of parliament in January.

"The protocols were signed to overcome difficulties with settlements in unfriendly currencies for government loans previously provided to Bangladesh," Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev said during the Duma session. He said the protocols approved a new mechanism for settlements, resolved issues with overdue debt and its repayment linked to the waiver of penalties, and extends the loan's availability until 2027. "Thanks to these intergovernmental agreements, we managed to secure the equivalent of $459 million in revenue for the federal budget last year," Kolychev said.

Svetlana Zhurova, first deputy head of the International Affairs Committee, said the proposed amendments concerned the terms of a Russian state export loan to finance the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. "This is the largest Russian nuclear energy facility in South Asia at present," she said.

Rosatom is building the Rooppur NPP, the first in Bangladesh, which will have two 1,200-MW VVER reactors. Russia and Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2016 on an export loan of up to $11.38 billion to build the plant. The loan covers up to 90% of the project's total cost of $12.6 billion.