Myasnikovich: Belarus, Russia have common ground in the Belarusian NPP financing issues

MINSK, 4 February (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have mutual understanding in the issues of further financing of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP), Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he met with Director General of the Russian state corporation for nuclear energy Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko on 1 February.

The Belarusian side is pleased with the preparatory stage of the NPP construction, the Belarusian Premier noted. “For us it is a landmark event in every respect, a project that we need. We are taking a very serious approach to its preparation,” the PM stressed. Mr Myasnikovich underlined that Belarus and Russia are working very productively in addressing any emerging issues. In particular, on 25 January the Finance Ministers of the two countries worked through the financial issues of the project. “I believe we have common ground on how to address the rest of the issues regarding the financing of the project,” the Prime Minister added.

Russia and Belarus meet on the regular basis to discuss the issues of the NPP construction, he stressed. “The main things in the design and construction of the plant are reliability and safety. We need the safest and most reliable nuclear power plant to help the country’s economy,” the Prime Minister stated.

The nuclear power plant will open new prospects for Belarus in enhancing the competitive ability of its product, Mikhail Myasnikovich said. Nuclear power is relatively cheap energy comparing it with CHP and hydro power plants.

“We took a serious approach to the preparatory stage, organizational and financing issues, and of course, the issues of construction itself. There are no complaints from our Russian partners,” he noted.

There are no outstanding issues at this stage, Mikhail Myasnikovich stressed. The Premier thanked the Rosatom head for cooperation in addressing various issues and expressed gratitude to the Russian government and its head Dmitry Medvedev for timely address of any issue related to the construction of the nuclear power plant. “There is no protraction, red tape here. We have full understanding of how and when the project should be implemented,” Mikhail Myasnikovich concluded.