“Nuclear” Example

The NPP will save Belarus about five billion cubic meters of imported gas, reduce the prime cost of energy production and enhance energy security. A lot has already been said about the importance of the project, therefore we will not dwell on it again. We will only say that the nuclear power plant will make domestic products more competitive because nuclear energy is relatively cheap compared to heat power and hydro power. “This is a very useful project in many ways,” Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich underlined.

It is encouraging that the works to construct the nuclear power plant are progressing ahead of schedule, which became possible due to the efforts of Belarusian construction workers. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, said: “Here we can see a fully equipped construction site with all the infrastructure, roads, auxiliary buildings and structures in place. In a sense it is an exemplary site which we can show off to potential customers from the countries that are planning to build their first nuclear power plant”.

By the way, the professionalism of Belarusian construction specialists impressed the Russian partners so much that they are now considering a possibility to license Belarusian enterprises and installation companies to take part in the construction of the nuclear power plant proper. More than that, Belarusian companies might be involved in construction of nuclear power plants in Russia. The parties are now mulling over this idea. The Russian partners would like to engage Belarusian development companies in nuclear power projects in third countries like Bangladesh.

Naturally, the safety of the future nuclear power plant is of paramount importance. “We are uncompromising in our approach towards reliability and safety of the NPP. We scheduled the construction works keeping in mind that we should have the safest and the most reliable nuclear power station that will really benefit the Belarusian economy,” the Belarusian Premier underlined. Rosatom’s head Sergei Kiriyenko added: “We hereby announce, with full responsibility, that here, in Ostrovets, we will build the world’s safest nuclear power plant. It meets post-Fukushima safety requirements”.

By the way, the successful start of the construction project on the Ostrovets site was in many ways thanks to an excellent teamwork of Belarusian and Russian specialists. However, this was not achieved overnight. There were heated disputes over the construction deadline. Now the parties are not discussing possible delays, quite the opposite. In the summer they are planning to start the concrete pouring phase at the first power generating unit. Thus, the things that were to be done in October might be done in June. As for the second power generating unit, the works might be completed half a year earlier. At least this is the task and it seems absolutely feasible.

Naturally, effective teamwork is impossible without adequate financing. The partners have reached mutual understanding on this sensitive issue. An intergovernmental agreement was signed to provide Belarus with Russia’s government loan at the amount of $10 billion for 25 years. In December 2012 Russia’s Vnesheconombank approved a $500 million loan for the Belarusian Finance Ministry to make advance payment for the works to construct the NPP. Mikhail Myasnikovich underlined that there is no red tape or delays with financing of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Everybody understands that the NPP should be delivered on schedule or even a bit earlier.

In other words, this project has showed that goodwill can help find a balance of interests and generate benefits for all. Unfortunately, sometimes Belarus and Russia fail to find a common ground. Let us take the epic story with the establishment of a holding company based on KAMAZ and MAZ. The benefits of the holding company are obvious, especially in view of the establishment of the Customs Union and Russia’s accession to the WTO. Top officials of the two countries reiterated on numerous occasions that all the issues had been removed. However, the matter has made little headway. Belarus’ suggestion to set up a joint venture based on Gomselmash and Rostselmash was ignored altogether. These are very important projects taking into consideration the big role that the automobile industries play in the two economies.

It would be great if the constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation over the ‘nuclear’ project became an example for other key joint projects.