BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/01/2008

Belarus names nuke plant builder, ups cost estimate

MINSK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Belarus on Tuesday took the final decision to build its first nuclear power plant as it tries to diversify its energy resources, raising the estimated cost to $4 billion and naming Russia's Atomstroiexport as the builder.

Belarus was severely affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine which killed thousands as winds blew radiation into its territory.

"The approximate cost of the project could be $4 billion," said a statement from President Alexander Lukashenko's office.

"Funding for the project will come from the budget, external debt, the national development fund and the energy ministry's innovation fund."

Although Atomstroiexport had expressed interest before in building the plant, Belarussian media had reported that the government had been looking at U.S. and French companies, while Lukashenko himself invited Japan to consider constructing it.

Lukashenko first announced concrete plans for the plant last year -- after Russia almost doubled the price Minsk paid for gas imports to $100 per 1,000 cubic metres -- and estimated the cost at $2.5 billion.

The dispute surrounding prices with Russia, and Moscow's insistence that ex-Soviet states should eventually pay market prices for gas, prompted Belarus to explore a whole range of energy projects in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Venezuela. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; writing by Sabina Zawadzki)

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1583380620080115