MINSK, 5 October (BelTA) – Belarus is taking steps to organize another round of negotiations with Lithuania about the nuclear power plant before the end of the year, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Iya Malkina.
The official said: “Despite Lithuania's stance that only a third independent party can resolve our conflict situation, we intend to contact our neighbors in order to initiate the third round of negotiations. If our colleagues take us up on the offer, the round of negotiations may be held this year.”
Speaking about interaction with Lithuania about nuclear power plant matters as a whole, the official noted: “The negotiation process takes a lot of work. Unfortunately, we cannot come to terms as fast as we would like to.”
A regular session of the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee took place in September. Prospects of future development of the situation around the Belarusian nuclear power plant were discussed among other things. “Belarus fulfils all the commitments it undertakes in a responsible manner, including within the framework of Espoo Convention procedures, and obligations to our neighbors. We have done stress tests. Negotiations on sending the results to the European Commission are underway. These processes do not stop even for one day regardless of the period of time,” stressed Iya Malkina.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the Russian standard Generation III+ design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.
