Belarusian govt approves amendments to loan repayment to Russia for constructing BelNPP

MINSK. July 17 (Interfax) - The Belarusian government has approved the protocol that amends the procedure for repaying the loan to Russia for the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP), and the corresponding resolution of the country's Council of Ministers, No. 459, dated July 13, 2023, was published on Saturday on the national portal of legal information.

"Approve the protocol on amending the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Russian Federation on granting the government of the Republic of Belarus a state export loan for the construction of a nuclear power plant on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, dated November 25, 2011, and signed in Moscow on March 2, 2023, and in Minsk on March 3, 2023," according to the document signed by Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko.

The Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry has been instructed to send a notification about the country's implementation of the domestic procedures necessary for the protocol to enter into force.

As reported, the Russian government at the end of February of this year extended by one year the deadline for the start of Belarus's repayment of the loan for the construction of the BelNPP.

In accordance with the document, the text of the agreement, dated November 25, 2011, between the governments of Russia and Belarus on granting Belarus a state export loan for constructing a nuclear power plant in Belarus is being amended. Specifically, according to the amended version of the agreement, "the loan is used by the Belarusian side in 2011-2023", and "repayment by the Belarusian side of the loan begins six months from the date of commissioning of the nuclear power plant, though no later than April 1, 2024, and is repaid in 30 equal installments, remitted every six months.