Bangladesh calls for continued Russian nuclear collaboration

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim government praised on Wednesday Moscow’s “important” backing of a controversial nuclear plant during the first visit by the director of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom since Dhaka’s revolution last year.

Construction on the nuclear plant at Rooppur began in 2017 during the iron-fisted tenure of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The much-delayed 2,400-megawatt project is aimed at bolstering an overstretched energy grid and will be Bangladesh’s largest power station by generating capacity once fully operational.

Alexey Likhachev, chief of the Russian nuclear energy giant, was last in Bangladesh in April 2024, shortly before a student-led uprising that culminated in ousting Hasina in August.

Her successor, interim leader Muhammad Yunus, met Likhachev and they discussed the “continuing collaboration between Bangladesh and Russia” concerning the Rooppur plant.

“We are looking forward to your support, which is very important for us,” Yunus told the Russian team, according to a statement from his office.

The Rooppur plant was the most expensive infrastructure project undertaken by Hasina -- a $12.65 billion plan 90 percent funded by a Moscow loan -- but has since been dogged by corruption allegations.

Hasina, 77, fled to her old ally India, where she has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges including mass murder.

Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission launched an investigation into Hasina and her family in December, including into the alleged embezzlement of $5 billion connected to the Rooppur plant project.

Yunus’s office said the two sides also discussed Dhaka’s credit agreement with Moscow, with a proposal to extend that period until the end of 2026.

Bangladesh, a nation of some 170 million people, currently relies heavily on importing cross-border power from neighbouring India, especially when demand soars during the blistering heat when consumers rely on energy-hungry air conditioners to keep cool.

Relations between Bangladesh and India have frayed, with Dhaka demanding Hasina be sent home.