Lukashenko Claims Real Cost Of Belarus' Russia-Built NPP To Amount To Less Than $7Bln

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that the "real" cost of the country's future nuclear power plant (NPP) built by a Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom subsidiary could be lower than the previously estimated $10 billion and amount to less than $7 billion

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that the "real" cost of the country's future nuclear power plant (NPP) built by a Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom subsidiary could be lower than the previously estimated $10 billion and amount to less than $7 billion.

"We have signed a $10 billion loan agreement for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant with Russia on the basis of existing world prices ... I told [Russian President] Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] that the real cost would be probably less than $7 billion," Lukashenko said in his annual address to the nation and the parliament.

The remark was made in response to a lawmaker, who claimed that Russia had reduced the NPP cost, while allegedly citing Russian Ambassador in Minsk Mikhail Babich.

"It is not Russia that has reduced [the cost]," the president added, correcting the lawmaker.

Lukashenko argued that the NPP cost has decreased due to the "strictest control," with Belarusian vice presidents overseeing the process.

"Each spare part, wherever it comes from, whether it is Belarus or Russia, especially the West .

.. We have put it under state control. And they personally report to me on all incidents," Lukashenko stressed.

He also added that rigid control had been established over procurement prices to avert corruption, with many Belarusian experts involved in the construction process at all stages.

The president specified that the final cost of the NPP would be clear upon the construction completion, noting that he had "a vested interest in the price to be as low as possible to offer our people services ... and further move away from the dependence on oil and gas."

According to the Belarusian leader, the NPP construction will reduce Minsk's dependence on Russian gas by 5-6 billion cubic meters per year.

The Belarusian NPP is being built near the town of Astravets in the Grodno region. The plant's general contractor is Atomstroyexport, a Rosatom subsidiary. The nuclear power plant will consist of two power units with a total capacity of up to 2,400 MW. The plant is designed to comply with the most modern, so-called "post-Fukusima" safety standards. The launch of the NPP's first power unit is scheduled for 2019, while second is planned to be launched in 2020.