Bangladesh-Russia ink $11.385b loan deal for Rooppur nuclear plant

Bangladesh and Russia signed an $11.385 billion supplier’s credit agreement in Moscow on Tuesday for the Rooppur nuclear power.
The deal was signed around 2:15pm Bangladesh time and Bangladesh’s external relations division secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin signed the deal on behalf of Bangladesh, said officials at science and technology ministry.
The Russian credit would carry 1.75 per cent interest plus LIBOR — London Interbank Offered Rate with a 30-year repayment period and 10 years’ grace period.
Russia would provide the credit in installments staggered over eight years.
From 2017, Bangladesh is scheduled to receive the first installment of the credit.
Construction of the two-unit Rooppur power station with a combined generation capacity of 2,400MW begins in August 2017, said officials.
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission is the implementing agency for Rooppur nuclear power station, the first ever in Bangladesh.
Under a bilateral agreement signed in Dhaka in 2011, Russia would provide 90 per cent of construction cost of the Rooppur nuclear power station as supplier’s credit.
The total construction cost has been estimated at $12.65 billion.
Bangladesh government will bear 10 per cent of the construction cost which is $1.265 billion.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net