ArmInfo. Armenian Nuclear Power Plant CJSC will be able to use a budget loan of 20.11 billion drams to implement the second lifespan extension program for its second power unit.
The RA government approved the terms for the budget loan at its meeting on July 9.
As noted in the justification for the draft decision, in order to finance the lifespan extension of Power Unit 2, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on June 11, according to which the plant will receive a budget loan of 63.2 billion drams to extend the plant's lifespan until 2026. The resolution also established the terms for the budget loan. Then, with the goal of further extending the lifespan of Unit 2 of the NPP until 2036, the RA government adopted a resolution allocating $160 million for the project. In 2026, 20.111 billion drams were allocated as a budget loan, of which 7.183 billion drams were allocated for the first half of the year and 15.494 billion drams for the first nine months of the current year.
However, the company was unable to enter into an agreement with the RA Ministry of Finance, as the terms of the budget loan had not been defined. The draft proposes establishing the terms of the budget loan, which would make it possible to enter into an agreement with the Ministry of Finance. According to the terms approved by the RA government, the repayment period for the budget loan is set at 10 years, of which the first two years will be preferential. The interest rate on the loan will be equal to the weighted average yield of the State Treasury's most recent placement of long-term coupon bonds with a maturity of 10 years. The principal amount of the budget loan is repaid in equal semi-annual installments on June 25 and December 25 of each year. Interest calculated on the budget loan is also paid in semi-annual installments on June 25 and December 25 of each year.
The Armenian NPP has been idle for five months since April 1, due to the implementation of the second power unit extension program until 2036. The work is being carried out jointly with Rosatom Service.
