Bangladesh exempts Rooppur NPP from all taxes and duties
MOSCOW. Sept 12 (Interfax) - The government of Bangladesh has exempted the Rooppur nuclear power plant from taxes and duties, including import duty, VAT, regulatory duty, advanced VAT and supplementary duty on all imported goods, machinery and parts needed for the plant's constriction, the Dhaka Tribune said.
"Such exemption is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh," the paper said.
"Even though the task of re-exporting those imported goods, machinery and parts is given to the state-owned Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), in reality the Russian contractors - Atomostroyexport - appointed for the implementation of the plant will reap the benefit of tax exemption," it said.
The tax and duty exemption was given through a special order in August 27, signed the chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the secretary of the Internal Resources Division.
The order said that BAEC will be the importer and exporter of all the goods, machinery and parts of Rooppur nuclear power plant.
However, the goods which are not directly related with the electricity production of the plant will not be under the tax exemption. Those include office materials, vehicles and household materials.
Previously, in this project the goods and services imported under the name of BAEC and under the bills of contractors were given exemption from tax at source.
Exemption has also been granted on the income tax of the Russian and foreign employees employed by the Russian contractors and vetted by the BAEC. These tax exemptions were given on July 28 thorough separate special orders signed by the NBR chairman.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed an agreement to build the Rooppur NPP, which is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River 160 km from the capital of Dhaka, in December 2015. The plant will have two 1200 MW generating units with VVER reactors.
The general designer will be JSC NIAEP, JSC Atomstroyexport will carry out the construction. Rosatom did not name a sum for the deal, but local sources spoke about $12.6 billion. The first concrete should be poured in the summer of 2017.
The Dhaka Tribune in July quoted Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam as saying the Russian government would lend $11.38 billion of the $12.65 billion, and the rest would be raised as a grant from Bangladesh government fund. The government of Bangladesh has already approved the draft inter-governmental credit agreement.
The credit will be repaid in 30 years with a 10-year grace period, while the loan repayment will start on March 15, 2027. The credit repayment will be made twice a year on March 15 and on September 15 with two equal installments with drawdown from 2017-2024.
Shafiul Alam said the Russian Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs and Sonali Bank Limited would be the authorized banks for the credit.