(UrduPoint News, Moscow, 31st May, 2021) Atomenergoprom JSC, a subsidiary of Russian state corporation Rosatom, consolidating all civil assets of the Russian nuclear industry, is working with the French Economy Ministry on a new mechanism for financial support of its nuclear power plant construction projects abroad with the participation of French export credit agency Bpifrance Assurance Export, according to Atomenergoprom’s 2020 annual report. Work continued with the French Ministry of Economy and Finance on the development of a fundamentally ‘new mechanism’ for financing the company’s projects for the construction of nuclear power plants abroad, and will continue in 2021″ the report says. No further details are provided. In another nuclear power story involving ECAs, Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom told ambassadors of the Group of Seven (G7) and the head of the EU mission in Ukraine that it has “made significant progress” with its strategy to diversify its sources of nuclear fuel. Since 2010, they have signed three contracts for the supply of nuclear materials for the production of nuclear fuel by Urenco, which is one of Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel suppliers. Their current contract was signed in July 2019. They are now considering increasing the volume of supplies of nuclear materials under that contract and attracting funding under the UK government’s export support programme, which is being implemented through UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency.
Nuclear Energy
Russian president signs law to ratify protocol restructuring Belarusian ECA loan
(BELTA, Minsk, 29 April 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law to ratify the protocol restructuring the protocol to amend the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on the state export credit to the Belarusian government to build a nuclear power plant. During the ratification, it was noted that some $4.7 billion of the $10 billion loan provided for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was used as of 1 March this year. According to Russian government estimates, the cost of the construction will be about $6 billion. The protocol contains the following terms for restructuring Belarusian obligations: extension of the loan use period for 2 years – until the end of 2022; postponement of the grace period on the principal from 1 April 2021 to 1 April 2023; replacement of the current mixed interest rate on the loan with the fixed interest rate of 3.3% per annum.
Swedish ECA under pressure to break ties with Belarus
(Intellinews, Berlin, 15 March 2021) International multinational firms including Swedish ECA EKN are coming under increased pressure to break business ties with Belarus as opposition leaders apply a “name and shame” campaign as part of their struggle to oust incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus has been wracked by mass demonstrations since last year’s disputed August 9 presidential elections. German heavy engineering firm Siemens and Norwegian agricultural company Yara have found themselves in the firing line in recent months, as both have significant business with Belarus. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), which was set up as a joint venture between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus to invest into things like infrastructure, funded its credit line by raising financing from the German state-owned banks KfW IPEX Bank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba), while the loan was insured by the state export credit agency of Sweden (EKN). Meanwhile, the Russian State Duma has ratified a protocol to amend the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on state export credit to the Belarusian government to build a nuclear power plant.
Behind Russia’s growing influence in Africa
(The Independent, Kampala, 8 July 2019) Russia hosted the Annual General Meeting for the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) on June 20-22, the second AGM to be held out of Africa since 2012 in China. The Russian Export Center (REC), purchased shares in Afreximbank in 2017 at an undisclosed amount, becoming the bank’s third-largest non-African financial institution. As Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, hosts more than 50 African presidents for the first-ever Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on Oct. 24, top on the agenda will be how to sustain the economic and political ties between the two trading blocs in the wake of declining oil prices and increasing isolation of the transcontinental nation. Whereas Russia’s presence in Africa had weakened in the 1990s, the country had since then done a great deal of groundwork on joint projects in geology and mining, energy, industry, agriculture, fishing and telecommunications, with total investments now standing at US$20bn. Russia’s economy has been on a standstill for a while, with statistics showing that from 2014 to 2018, its GDP grew at an average of 0.4% per annum, with real disposable incomes declining by 10.7% leaving 19 million of the 145 million Russian population in poverty during the same period. On the other hand, Africa’s GDP has been growing at an average of more than 3%, making it one of the fastest growing regions in the world. Moscow, which had a strong influence in Africa alongside US and China, had frozen its relations with the continent following the collapse of the USSR in 1991. It however remains to be seen how far Russia’s reconnection with the continent will go given that China, India, and especially the United States have intensified their involvement in Africa over the last three decades. Russia’s export values to Africa have nearly doubled over the last five years from US$9.3bn in 2014 to US$17.5bn in 2018 while Russian imports from Africa have stagnated, increasing from merely US$2.8bn to US$2.9bn during the same period. Most of Russia’s exports to Africa are medicine, food, forestry products, automotive and mixed fertilizer. Since 2015, according to the Swedish Defence Research Agency, Russia has signed over 20 bilateral military cooperation agreements with African states including; Rwanda, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea. Between 2012 and 2016, Russia had become the largest supplier of arms to Africa, accounting for 35% of arms exports to the region, followed by China (17 %), the United States (9.6%), and France (6.9 %). Some of Russia’s companies that have made inroads in Africa include; Gazprom, Lukoil, Rostec and Rosatom, with most of their operations in Uganda, Algeria, Angola, Egypt and Nigeria. Egypt has also finalised negotiations with Moscow to build the country’s first nuclear plant, while in Namibia, Moscow is developing one of the world’s largest deposits of platinum group metals.
U.S. Senate targets Ex-Im support for Saudi nuclear technology
(Foreign Policy, Washington, 30 July 2019) A bipartisan group of lawmakers is introducing new legislation aimed at restricting the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, the latest sign of growing congressional backlash to the Trump administration’s close relationship with the wealthy Gulf nation. The bill, put forward by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, would bar the U.S. Export-Import Bank from financing the transfer of nuclear technology and equipment to Saudi Arabia, absent nuclear cooperation agreements, and adopting restrictive international standards to safeguard against nuclear proliferation. The Export-Import Bank plays a key role in funding the export of U.S. nuclear energy equipment and technology abroad.
Japanese and French ECAs to finance Turkey’s second nuclear plant
(Daily Sabah, Istanbul, 25 February 2019) Turkey’s second nuclear power plant to be built in Sinop under a Japanese-French partnership, will make a breakthrough by obtaining a ground license this year. The plant, which will have an installed capacity of 4,480 megawatts (MW) and consist of four reactors with a 1,120-MW capacity each, will cost $20 billion. The Japanese and Turkish governments agreed in 2013 on the project to be built with a Japanese-French consortium in the Black Sea province of Sinop. The bulk of the project would be financed by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), Japan’s export credit agency, and French credit insurer Coface.
France’s CIFAL ready to help Uzbekistan develop nuclear energy
(Trend News Agency, Baku, 24 August 2018) French CIFAL company is ready to help Uzbekistan in the development of nuclear energy noting they are ready to provide their technological solutions and share experience to train specialists of Uzbekistan in the field of nuclear energy. CIFAL plans to support the Uzbekistan’s Agency for the Development of Nuclear Energy “Uzatom” in the implementation of technical, commercial and financial negotiations with the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” and also take part in the solution of issues of financing of the project in coordination with the Uzbek and Russian sides. The Russian side proposes to build in Uzbekistan a station consisting of two modern blocks of pressurized-water reactors VVER-1200 of “3+” generation. The project for the construction of a similar station, which Rosatom is building in Bangladesh, is estimated at about $13 billion, of which $11.3 billion are provided by Russia as an officially supported export credit.
Russian ECA Financed Bangladesh Reactor is Safe Against Natural Disasters
(Sputnik International, Moscow, 13 July 2018) The construction work on the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), which is the first ever nuclear power plant for Bangladesh, is scheduled to be launched next Saturday. On July 8, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), issued a license to Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) for the design and construction of RNPP Unit 2. The project will cost around $13 billion, of which Russia provides a state export credit of up to $11.38 billion and the rest is financed by the government of Bangladesh. “In RNPP we will have the ‘Generation 3+’ technology, developed from the experience of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, which will ensure more safety and security in case of tsunami, cyclone and other similar type of disasters,” Dr. Shaheed Hossain, consultant of RNPP Project told Sputnik.
World powers back Iran oil exports despite US sanctions threats
(AFP, Vienna, 6 July 2018) Iran’s remaining partners in the 2015 nuclear deal vowed Friday to keep the energy exporter plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and sanctions threat. Britain, France and Germany along with Russia and China met with Iran in Vienna to offer economic benefits and assurances that would lessen the blow of sweeping US sanctions announced by Trump. Although there were no concrete pledges or deadlines, they vowed efforts to keep open financial channels with Iran, promote export credit cover and maintain open air, sea and overland transport links.
Germany Sets Up Iran Advice Office for Companies
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 17 June 2018) The German government has set up a special office to advise companies worried about their business dealings with Iran amid fears they will be targeted for US sanctions. The European signatories to a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran—Germany, France and Britain—have vowed to keep the deal alive after US President Donald Trump withdrew from it last month. Germany’s Economy Ministry said on Friday it has established an “Iran contact point” for companies to pose their questions by email. The ministry stressed that European sanctions relief for Iran, one of the terms of the nuclear agreement, remain in place, and that government-backed export credit guarantees are still available, AP reported.
