Russian government okays amendments to Belarusian nuclear power plant loan agreement

MOSCOW, 22 June (BelTA) – The Russian government has approved the draft protocol on amending the 2011 Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on providing a state export loan to Belarus for the sake of building a nuclear power plant. The relevant executive order of the Russian government was published on the dedicated Russian legislation website on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

The draft protocol provides for extending the period of use of the loan by two years – till the end of 2022. Apart from that, the interest rate is fixed at 3.3% per annum. The date when Belarus is supposed to start paying off the principal sum is shifted from 1 April 2021 to 1 April 2023.

The document was presented by the Russian Federation Finance Ministry and reconciled with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Economic Development Ministry, and Rosatom Corporation. The document had been run past the Belarusian side before that. The Russian government instructed the Finance Ministry to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies in order to hold negotiations with Belarus and sign the protocol on behalf of the Russian government once the parties come to an agreement.