Armenian Finance Minister: Armenian NPP is a source of cheapest energy power processing in the country

ArmInfo. Armenian Nuclear Power  Plant is the source of cheapest energy power processing in the  country, and which is why its role is hard to overestimate from the  point of view of possibilities of economy development. This was  stated by Armenian Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan during the  conversation with ArmInfo's correspondent. 

"The Armenian nuclear power plant supplies 35- 40% of all energy  produced in the country at an affordable price to the power grid of  the republic, "the Minister said, adding that in case of the stop of  it, the plant's capacity would have to be recovered from thermal  power stations with gas turbine installations, but the tariff with  these facilities will be incomparably higher. "If the nuclear power  plant suddenly stops today, not having in mind the program that is  implemented jointly with our Russian partners to extend the service  life fpr at least 10 years, this will lead to a sharp increase of  energy price with all the negative consequences for the country's  economy. From this point of view, I consider this program to be  extremely necessary and important, "the Minister stated.

He reminded  that the Russian loan of $ 270 million was granted to  Armenia for a period of 15 years with a grace period for payments  during  first 3 years. At the same time, the interest rate is 3%. "On  the international market, Armenian Government securities are placed  at a rate of 8%, which means that when placing bonds at 8%, the  interest rate of a Russian loan is preferential. Why is it about 3%  interest? Yes, because the loan is an export.It is redirected to  Russian residents who pay taxes locally to the budget of Russia,  which is why the loan rate is adequate, it is balanced taking into  account the interests of the parties, "the head of the Armenian  Finance Ministry said.

Vardan Aramyan also pointed out that significant financial resources  were saved as a result of the tender conducted by the general  contractor - Rusatom Service - tenders for the supply of equipment  and services, but this does not mean that the money saved will be  used to repay the principal amount of the loan. It can only go about  paying off already used resources. For this reason, the funds saved  as a result of tenders for the supply of equipment and inventory can  help reduce the volume of payments. In addition, the savings can be  used as a backup to counter possible challenges, for example, rising  prices for diesel fuel, oil products or fittings. "In any case, these  funds remain at the disposal of the Armenian NPP, with which we have  a subcontract," the Minister said. At the same time, in accordance  with the sub-loan agreement, the interest rate remained unchanged.  Otherwise, the NPP would face problems connected, among other things,  with the possibility of increasing the tariff. "It is important that  the loan conditions are not transformed into nationals, the nuclear  power plant will transfer funds to the Armenian Finance Ministry, and  the latter will be repaid from Russian Ministry of Finance,"  concluded Vardan Aramyan.

To remind, from May 10, the Armenian NPP was stopped for 60 days in  order to carry out preventive maintenance works (PMR) and refueling.  Within the framework of these works, measures will be taken to extend  the life of the N2 power unit. In March 2015, the Joint Coordination  Committee (JCC) was established to implement the project. Till now,  four meetings of the JCC have been held.

Earlier, during his interview with ArmInfo correspondent, AEP N2   energy bloc term prolongation works head said, that a  considerable   amount of work will be carried out during the preventive maintenance.   The main focus will be put on the safety of the nuclear power plant:   works related to the repair of equipment will be performed, as well  as work on instrumental inspection of equipment. The repair of the   equipment will be assisted by employees of the Kolskaya and   Novovoronezh nuclear power plants - they are the ?twinning? stations   of the Armenian NPP, scientific management will be carried out by JSC   TsNIITMASH, an industrial enterprise of the Rosatom. As for the  instrumental survey, the main task of this exercise is to calculate   and confirm the residual life of the equipment using non-destructive   testing methods. In simple words, it is necessary to check the   possibility of further operation of NPP equipment. As you know, there   is a lot of equipment on the NPPA, so the instrumental survey is   distributed for several years, without compromising the safety and   operation of the NPPA. Last year, we started this process; this year   the volume of the surveyed equipment increased by 50% compared to   last year (150 types of equipment) at the request of the supervisory  authority. We hope to finish the instrumental survey process next   year and in 2019.  Transfer calculations and conclusions to the   supervisory authority - the State Committee for Nuclear Safety   Regulation. We hope to finish on time, but everything will depend on  the results of the survey and the decision of the Gosatomnadzor.  On   30 Sept 2015, Tashir Group headed by Russian businessman of Armenian   origin Samvel Karapetyan and Inter RAO signed an agreement of   purchase and sale of electric power assets of the Russian energy   holding in Armenia - ENA CJSC and Hrazdan TPP. The reason of the sale  was the public discontent about the ungrounded growth in electricity   prices by approximately 16.7% (6.93 AMD per 1 kWh). The Public   Services Regulatory Commission's (PSRC) decision to raise the tariff   sparked protests and the Armenian authorities agreed to audit both   the expediency of PSRC's decision to raise the tariff and the   activities of the Electric Networks. In addition, the authorities and   Tashir Group took a decision to subsidize on a parity basis the   raised tariff for the households and SMEs until the audit is   completed. Since August 1, 2015, the daytime tariff for households  (from 7 am till 11 pm) has been 48.78 AMD per 1kWh, while the   nighttime tariff has been 38.78 AMD per 1 kWh.