Belarus, Russia formalize rescheduling of BelNPP launch, revise basic agreement
MINSK. Nov 10 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has issued a decree approving a draft protocol on amending the intergovernmental agreement signed with Russia in 2011 for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus.
The decree was published Friday on the national legal website.
The protocol, has been published on the Russian website for legal information, stipulates that the warranty period for the operation of the plant can exceed the two-year period based on contracts between the customer and the contractor. It also stipulates that a longer warranty period can be set for certain equipment for the plant.
Furthermore, the protocol states that the procedure for setting prices for nuclear fuel and the conditions for its delivery will be negotiated by the relevant authorities of the parties and stipulated in contracts between the authorized Belarusian and Russian organizations.
The Belarusian government has also published a resolution authorizing Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich to hold negotiations with the Russian side and sign the protocol once agreement is reached within the bounds of the approved draft.
According to the information, has been posted on the Russian website for legal information, the deadline for launching the Belarusian Nuclear Plant (BelNPP) has been rescheduled to 2023 from 2022.
Lukashenko said on October 31 that Belarus has raised the issue of Russia providing compensation for the late launch of the plant.
The first and second generating units of the plant were initially scheduled to be launched in 2018 and 2020, respectively. However, due to an incident in July 2016 the contractor had to replace a reactor vessel that may have been damaged. Due to the high safety standards for the plant, the equipment was replaced, although an inspection did not find any damage to the vessel.
In October 2020, the Belarusian government officially rescheduled the full launch of BelNPP to 2022 from 2020.