Russia and Bangladesh agreed on new conditions for the payment of a loan by Dhaka for the construction of Rooppur NPP, according to The Business Standard. Russia reportedly agreed to soften lending conditions by exempting Bangladesh from a fine of $164m for late payments on a loan of $500m used for the feasibility study of the plant. The payment difficulties were caused by Western sanctions.
Moscow also responded positively to Dhaka’s request, extending the loan in the amount of $11.38bn for the main project of the NPP for two years, postponing the start of payments by 1.5 years. According to the draft amended protocols sent to Dhaka from Moscow, payments can now be made in Russian rubles along with US dollars.
Bangladesh was previously required to pay a fine of 4.5% if loan payments were delayed by a month. If missed payments on a loan for the feasibility study from March 2022 to March 2025 were considered debt, Bangladesh would have to incurred fines of $164m.
Initially, Bangladesh was supposed to start paying off the main debt and interest from March 2027. However, the government asked to postpone the start of payments until March 2029. In the revised protocol, the new start date for payments is 15 September 2028 with the distribution of payments over a period of 20 years.
The Rooppur plant is being built by Rosatom on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in Bangladesh’s Pabna district, about 160 km northwest of Dhaka. It will comprise two VVER-1200 reactors. In November 2011, Russia and Bangladesh signed an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of the NPP and in mid-December 2015, a general contract was signed. Construction began in 2021. Construction of unit 1 began in November 2017 and unit 2 in July 2018. The plant’s design life is 60 years, with the possibility of extending its operating life for another 20 years. Fresh fuel for the units was delivered to the site in the latter part of 2023.
