Rosatom responded with the phrase “there are no unresolved issues” to Lukashenko’s criticism of the nuclear power plant

The Rosatom press service reported that Russia and Belarus have no unresolved issues regarding the Belarusian NPP project. This is how the state company responded to statement President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who demanded compensation for the later commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The delay in the launch of the project at Rosatom was explained by the tightening of the foreign policy situation and the consequence of the pandemic.

“Taking into account the established trusting relationship with our Belarusian customer, we do not comment on the commercial component of the project,” says Rosatom’s press release (available to Kommersant). The conversation about the commercial component came up in connection with the issue of compensation raised by Mr. Lukashenko. He himself did not publicly name any amounts.

As for the failure to implement the project on time, the Russian state-owned company said: “The main stages of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant occurred during a difficult period of the pandemic and the tightening of the foreign policy situation with increased sanctions risks. The project itself was implemented in a country that for the first time embarked on the path of large-scale nuclear energy. Our goal has never been to speed up the construction process at the expense of safety requirements.”

Earlier today, October 31, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko heard a report on the completion of the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant and increasing the availability of electricity for heating residential buildings. At the meeting, Mr. Lukashenko said that Belarus raised the issue of compensation to the Russian side in connection with the postponement of the commissioning of the nuclear power plant. “There was nothing extraordinary there,” said Mr. Lukashenko. “But such questions (about compensation – Kommersant) were raised due to the fact that the deadlines for commissioning the station were violated, and the Russian side bears responsibility for this.”

The BelNPP includes two power units with a capacity of 1.2 GW. Part of the construction of the project was covered by a $10 billion Russian government loan, with Rosatom NPP as the general contractor. The first power unit started operating in November 2020, the second in May 2023.

Polina Motyzlevskaya