YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenia refused to extend the term of using the Russian loan balance provided for the Nuclear Power Plant as it considered beneficial to provide a budgetary loan from its own financial resources for solving the problem, Minister of territorial administration and infrastructures Suren Papikyan told reporters in the Parliament, assuring that this has no connection with the Armenian-Russian relations.

The minister said there are stable, strategic and partnering relations between Armenia and Russia. “But at the same time there is a problem of effective use of loans in our country. We have inherited different loans the terms of which have either been at the expiry stage or have been expired. And at this stage we considered more beneficial for our country that we can provide a budgetary loan from other loan resources or our financial resources for solving the problem”, the minister said.

He said Rosatom is the main implementing company. The contracts with the partners exist, and as a result of providing the funds the construction works continued in a proper manner.

Earlier Armenia reached an agreement with Russia on attracting 270 million USD loan for the upgrading works of the 2nd energy unity of the NPP. Russia was going to give another 30 million USD as a grant.

Deputy minister of territorial administration and infrastructures Hakob Vardanyan told Armenpress that a total of 107 million USD balance was left from the 270 million USD loan and the 30 million USD grant, and the term of its use expired on December 31, 2019. “We are just not extending the term of its use. In other words, it ended, only the balance was left which was not available to us. There was an option to extend it, but at this stage we will choose the option of not extending. The rest of the works will continue at the expense of other resources”, the deputy minister said.

Earlier the Russian finance ministry gave a consent to extend it.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan