Mishustin Invites Armenian Colleagues to Russia: The Reason Revealed

The Prime Minister of Russia, Mikhail Mishustin, has invited Armenian colleagues to discuss the cost of productivity for the new nuclear power plant in Armenia during the 'Eurasia is Our Home' exhibition.

This invitation comes in response to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's remarks that 'Rosatom' only offers construction of 1200 megawatt capacity blocks, but not lower capacities. Rosatom's head, Alexey Likhachev, stated that the company could produce blocks of 600 megawatts and 400 megawatts, but they would involve advanced projects and would be somewhat more expensive.

Mishustin remarked, 'Alexey (Likhachev), at this point, we need to discuss the pricing policy. We are ready to discuss it; this is a priority. The same goes for our partners in Kazakhstan; we are prepared.' He also drew the attention of the heads of delegations to the fact that scientists and technologies from countries whose technologies are offered by 'Rosatom' can participate in the implementation of research and design works for the construction of the nuclear power plant.

'See where you consider it possible to participate with your industrial and construction capabilities,' said Mishustin.

He suggested that the head of 'Rosatom' invite partners and observers from the EAEU countries to Russia to get acquainted with the entire range of blocks that the company can construct based on capacity.

It is worth noting that at the 'Rosatom' state corporation booth, the heads of delegations from EAEU countries were informed about the world's youngest and most efficient plant, the Russian-Belarusian nuclear power plant, a joint project.

'This is a global bestseller, two blocks with a capacity of 1200 megawatts,' said Alexey Likhachev. Currently, the first block of the Belarusian nuclear power plant has already been commissioned, while the second is undergoing testing.

Recall that the operational project deadline for the 2nd energy block of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) expired in 2016. Prior to that, in 2012, the government decided to extend it by 10 years. For this purpose, extensive modernization and re-equipment works were carried out at the ANPP, the majority of which—about 189 million USD—was funded through loans and grants from Russia, with 63.2 billion drams (approximately 160 million USD) coming from the Armenian state budget. The updated energy block of the ANPP is set to expire in three years, in 2026. Therefore, the government is considering extending it a second time before constructing a fully new nuclear power plant.

Taking into account the already completed modernization works, as well as the opinions of specialized organizations and the international experience of extending the operational deadlines for similar energy blocks, it is planned to create opportunities to extend the operational project deadline for the second energy block of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant by an additional 10 years (until 2036) through additional investments and works.