Russian PM urges speeding up Uzbek atomic power plant project

By BBC Monitoring

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has urged speeding up the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan, the news and analytical website Ia-centr.ru reported on 2 December.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Russian-Uzbek intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation held in the central Uzbek city of Samarkand, the report said.

"We consider it important to strengthen cooperation in nuclear energy. A major project will be to jointly construct a Russian-designed nuclear power plant. It is necessary to speed up the implementation of all agreements that have been reached," Mishustin said.

He went on to say that Russia "welcomes" the Uzbek partners' interest in deepening industrial cooperation.

"Interesting initiatives are being discussed in the automotive and aircraft industries, as well as in pharmaceuticals. Large investments are being channelled into mechanical engineering and metallurgy," the prime minister added.

In 2018, Uzbekistan reached an agreement with Russia to build a $11bn nuclear power plant. Rosatom is expected to build the plant for the Central Asian country but there is no binding contract yet. The plan is being fiercely resisted by the public and the expert community in the Central Asian state.

Source: ia-centr website, Moscow, in Russian 2 Dec 22