N-plant financing deal finalised with Russia

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

N-plant financing deal finalised

N-plant financing deal finalised | Business | bdnews24.com

Sat, Aug 11th, 2012 12:53 pm BdST


Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
bdnews24.com Senior Correspondent

Dhaka, Aug 11 (bdnews24.com) – Dhaka and Moscow have finalised the financing agreement for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Under the deal Bangladesh would borrow $500 million for the technical study with an interest rate of not less than 4 per cent from Russia, a top official has said.

The $500 million would be spent in the next two years for technical study, which would determine how much money would be needed to develop the plant, Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman told bdnews24.com at the airport Saturday upon his arrival from Moscow.

Russia would provide necessary fund for constructing the plant, he added.

The government is going to build two nuclear plants with capacity of 1000-megawatt each at Rooppur with latest 'third generation' technology from Russia where five-layer security measures would be installed, according to officials.

A delegation led by the Economic Adviser went to Moscow on Aug 4 and negotiated with acting Russian Finance Minister to finalise the deal.

The team included State Minister for Science and Technology Yeafesh Osman, Board of Investment Executive Chairman SA Samad and representatives from ministries of finance, foreign and law, ERD, Planning Commission and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

When asked what could be the estimated cost, he said, "The thumb rule for traditional power plant is US $1 million for 1 megawatt plant but for the case of nuclear, it is higher."

The costs might go up due to safety and security features, infrastructure and human resources development, he added.

It takes about $1.5 billion to $2 billion to set up 1000-megawatt (MW) power plant depending on security features and technology standards.

The PM's adviser would not say when the financing agreement would be signed or the technical study would begin.

"The ministry will determine that," he said adding "It is the agreement for the project and would be done at a very high level."

The plant is expected to be completed after five years of the technical study is done.

Interest rate

The PM's adviser said the interest rate is yet to be decided and would depend on the market.

When asked to explain the market-linked interest rate, he said it would depend on at what cost Russia would be able to borrow from international market.

He, however, said Bangladesh borrowed from Russia in the 1990s at a rate of four per cent and it would influence the lending rate of power plant project.

The $500 million loan will be repaid in 12 years with five years grace period and the final construction cost will be repaid in 28 years with 10 years grace period.

The negotiation on interest rate, the most important component of any financing agreement, continued for a day, Mashiur said.

Mashiur said nuclear power plant involved advanced technology and the government should gradually build two plants.

"You don't go into high technical and sophisticated operation without any previous experience."

A country needed to complete 62 studies to construct a nuclear power plant and Bangladesh has already conducted several studies, he said.

Bangladesh signed the final cooperation agreement with Rosatom of Russian Federation to build the plant in November last year.

Under the cooperation agreement, the Russian government would provide all necessary support and infrastructure development to build the plant and supply necessary fuel to run the plant and also take back the spent fuel.

bdnews24.com/ssz/sk/1245h

 

[IZVINITE]

Accha hai! Congratulations Bangladesh

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Monday, August 13, 2012
Front Page
Nuke Power Plant
Russia agrees to provide 85pc fund
Loan agreement by year end

Russia agrees to provide 85pc fund

Staff Correspondent

Russia has agreed to provide as credit 85 percent of the estimated Tk 12,000-15,000 crore needed for setting up the first-ever nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.

It will initially provide $500 million (around Tk 4,000 crore) for conducting necessary studies and preparing the design for the 1,000 MW nuke plant.

This was agreed at a two-day meeting between Dhaka and Moscow on August 8-9 in the Russian capital, officials at the Science and Technology Ministry told The Daily Star yesterday.

An agreement providing for the loan is likely to be signed by the end of this year, and Bangladesh has asked for three percent interest on the loan, they said.

Referring to previous Russian loans, a senior official of the ministry said, “The rate of interest this time may finally be four percent.” He, however, preferred anonymity.

Bangladesh side at the talks in Moscow was led by the prime minister's economic affairs adviser Moshiur Rahman.

State Minister for Science and Technology Ministry Yeafesh Osman, who was in the delegation, said Russia would submit a proposal regarding the loan agreement within a month. “I hope their proposal will be positive for us,” he told this correspondent.

Russian officials at the talks assured that Moscow would consider Dhaka's proposal for a reduced interest rate, Osman said.

The Russian delegation asked for completing in two years all the 60 studies required for setting up the nuke plant, but Bangladesh would try to do so before that, Osman said.

Bangladesh has already conducted 12 studies, Russia will conduct 22 studies and then Bangladesh will do the remaining 26.

Dhaka and Moscow had earlier inked agreements under which the

latter would extend all kinds of assistance in setting up the nuke plant.

Construction of the plant at Rooppur in Pabna would take about five years.

Meanwhile, a conference on nuclear power plant will be held in Dhaka at the end of this year. Experts from home and abroad, including those from the International Energy Agency, and different stakeholders would participate in it.