Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Supports $1.5Bln for Rosatom
– Edited by Stephen Heiser –
According to a report in The Moscow Times, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia would stand by its plans to build more nuclear power reactors and promised $1.5 billion more in state money to Rosatom to support its projects at home and abroad.
State nuclear corporation Rosatom, which is constructing nuclear plants in Iran, China, India and Bulgaria, is planning to build 26 new reactors in the country by 2030.
"The plans are difficult, intensive but realistic," Putin said during a meeting discussing the industry's development at the Kalininskaya Nuclear Power Station. "Whatever might happen, we must fulfill the task that I mentioned."
The state has earmarked 1.5 trillion rubles ($55 billion) to develop the nuclear industry through 2015. Of that amount, 73.3 billion rubles are to be spent this year, up from 51 billion rubles last year.
Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko asked the government to allocate an extra 50 billion rubles for projects in the country and abroad without specifying when he wanted the money. Putin granted the request.
Kiriyenko also asked for permission to issue infrastructure bonds to raise funds for the construction of reactors in the country. The option would be an alternative to bank loans that, Kiriyenko complained, charge prohibitively high interest of at least 16 percent. Rosatom, which is short 26 billion rubles for reactor construction this year, can afford a 10 percent rate at best, he said.
Putin's reaction to the request wasn't reported Wednesday.
As he agreed to pump more state money into the nuclear industry, Putin demanded that Rosatom reduce costs.