Decision on $500 million VEB loan for Belarusian nuclear station soon

The decision on granting a Vnesheconombank loan to Belarus for financing advance payments as part of the construction of the nuclear power plant may be made soon. The statement was made by Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich as he met with Vnesheconombank Chairman of the Board Vladimir Dmitriyev on 3 April.

“We have virtually finished preparations for a large-scale agreement on credit support for building the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” said the head of government. “I think that today’s agreement will allow making the final decision soon”.

The Prime Minister thanked the Vnesheconombank representative for understanding in matters concerning the loan. “It is undoubtedly very important because the nuclear power plant is not just another piece of infrastructure. It is a project of national importance,” remarked Mikhail Myasnikovich.

He remarked that the Eurasian Economic Union will be launched soon. “While we may not get some united energy system, the energy system will be deeply integrated at least,” said the Prime Minister. “We are now working on the Eurasian Economic Union foundation treaty. No major disagreements regarding the energy industry have been registered. Thus, the operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will affect the state of affairs, the energy market, and the balance of the entire Eurasian Economic Union”.

In turn, Vladimir Dmitriyev said that Vnesheconombank is now the key institution in charge of coordinating support for Russian industry export. “As part of this complex system to support industry export we provide assistance to Russian and Belarusian enterprises, which maintain manufacturing cooperation ties and export merchandise from Belarus and from Russia to third countries. Thanks to the complex system we offer the most favorable terms to importers of our products,” remarked the executive. The Bank intends to develop the business area in the future.

BelTA reported earlier that on 19 December 2013 the Supervisory Board of the Russian bank Vnesheconombank decided in favor of opening a credit line to the tune of up to $500 million for up to eight years to the Belarus government. The money will be used to finance advance payments in the project to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

The Russian state corporation Vnesheconombank and the Belarusian bank OAO BelVEB Bank are the agent banks in charge of servicing the Russian state export loan that has been granted to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will boast two power-generating units with the total generating capacity of up to 2,400MW (1,200MW each). The Russian design AES-2006 has been chosen to build the power plant. The design is fully compliant with international standards and IAEA recommendations. The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport (ASE) is the general designer and the general contractor for building the power plant.