Russia Eases Rooppur Loan Terms

Wedoany.com Report-May 1, Russia and Bangladesh have finalized new terms for a loan repayment related to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Russia has agreed to waive a $164 million penalty for delayed payments on a $500 million loan used for the plant’s feasibility study. The payment challenges stemmed from international financial restrictions.

Moscow has also approved Bangladesh’s request to extend a $11.38 billion loan for the main construction project by two years, delaying the start of repayments by 1.5 years. According to the updated agreement sent from Moscow to Dhaka, repayments can now be made in Russian rubles or US dollars.

Previously, Bangladesh faced a 4.5% penalty for loan payments delayed by a month. Had unpaid amounts from March 2022 to March 2025 been classified as debt, Bangladesh would have incurred penalties totaling $164 million.

Originally, repayments for the main loan and interest were set to begin in March 2027. Following a request from the Bangladesh government, the revised terms now schedule payments to start on 15 September 2028, spread over 20 years.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in Pabna district, approximately 160 km northwest of Dhaka, is being constructed by Rosatom. The facility will feature two VVER-1200 reactors. An inter-governmental agreement between Russia and Bangladesh for the plant’s construction was signed in November 2011, followed by a general contract in December 2015. Construction started in 2021, with unit 1 beginning in November 2017 and unit 2 in July 2018. The plant is designed to operate for 60 years, with an option to extend its lifespan by an additional 20 years. Fresh fuel for the reactors was delivered to the site in late 2023.