Russia has assured Bangladesh of completing its flagship Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project on time and was trying to find an alternative to clear payment amid the United States sanctions on their entities.
‘We have our flagship project, Rooppur Power Plant, in Bangladesh, the second-biggest development partner after India in South Asia. Today we have noted that the project is moving as per schedule,’ visiting Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told a joint press conference at a Dhaka hotel after a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart, AK Abdul Momen.
He said that Bangladesh was a good and longtime partner in South Asia and so they had agreed to strengthen their cooperation in various areas and enhance trade and investments.
Lavrov said they had discussed the possibility of supplying LNG to Bangladesh along with food and fertiliser.
He appreciated Bangladesh, saying that it was being guided by its national policy against the pressure exerted by the US and its allies.
He said US and its allies were using internal crisis of a particular country to interfere in its internal affairs, which he termed as ‘unfair’.
Referring to the Indo-Pacific Strategy, he said the US and its allies were trying to deter China and isolate Russia with the so called Indo-Pacific Strategy in the region.
Asked about the settlement of Rooppur payments amid the US sanctions on Russia, the Russian foreign minister said they were moving fast for a solution with national currency instead of dollar, saying that the US sanctions were disrupting.
Momen said that Lavrov had assured him that the Rooppur power plant would be completed on time, saying that they had also offered to supply LNG to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh imports wheat and fertiliser from both Russia and Ukraine, leading suppliers of food grains across the globe.
As the first Russian foreign minister to Bangladesh, Lavrov arrived in Dhaka on Thursday on a less than 24-hour visit on his way to New Delhi, where he would join the G20 Summit slated for September 9-10.
Lavrov said Russia supported continued negotiation with Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis as Momen sought Moscow’s support for resolving the regional crisis.
Lavrov is scheduled to call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her office before leaving Dhaka for New Delhi today.
Lavrov was earlier scheduled to visit Bangladesh to attend the 22nd meeting of the Council of Ministers for the Indian Ocean Rim Association, an intergovernmental body, held in Dhaka on November 24 last year. His visit was called off at the last moment.
The recent sanctions the United States has enforced on the Russian businesses have put Dhaka in a tricky situation regarding making payments for its $12.65 billion Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, being implemented by the science and technology ministry with the Russian financial and technical assistance.
Officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Economic Relations Division said an alternative payment arrangement for clearing dues to Russia was under process.
In December, Dhaka denied entry of a US sanctioned Russian ship to unload its cargo destined for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant apparently under pressure from Washington.
The cargo was, however, eventually sent by another ship to Bangladesh.
With just 10 months left to meet the July 2024 deadline set for commencing the operation of the 1200 MW first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, officials in the power sector are flagging concerns over severe lags witnessed in implementing the essential transmission infrastructure-related projects, United News of Bangladesh reported on September 4.
Provided the power plant remains on track for the stated deadline, officials are now looking at upto a year, maybe even a bit more than that, before the first of its two units - each 1200 MW - as planned, can be commissioned, according to the UNB report.
