According to the information received from the Ministry of Science and Technology, mainly two issues will be discussed in the meeting. First, seeking additional time to repay the $500 million in the first tranche. Second, to review the financial agreement with Russia.
Government signed loan agreement with Russia for 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in two phases. The first loan agreement for $500 million was signed in 2013. The government has spent that money for detailed survey and preliminary works of the project. The repayment of interest on that loan started from 2018.
Another loan agreement was signed in 2016 for the construction of the main power plant. Bangladesh took a loan of $11.38 billion for the implementation of the project. The installment of this loan will start from 2027.
Although the government started repaying the interest on the loan taken in the first phase, it stopped after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war due to the country’s dollar crisis and Western sanctions on Russia.