Putin signs $16.5 billion nuclear deal to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant
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Russia signed a landmark nuclear deal with Kazakhstan on Thursday to build the Central Asian country’s first nuclear power plant, marking a major political and economic victory for President Vladimir Putin, according to reports.
The $16.5 billion project, signed during high-level talks in Astana between Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, will be supported by a Russian export loan covering about 85% of the total cost, Reuters reported.
Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear weapons organization, will lead construction near the town of Ulken in southeastern Kazakhstan on the shores of Lake Balkhash.
Rosatom won the initial construction mandate after winning a bid from China National Nuclear Corp., France’s EDF and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the outlet said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, is accompanied by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev after his arrival at the airport, Wednesday, in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Getty Images)
The deal directly advances the Kremlin’s efforts to maintain its economic and political influence among former Soviet states amid Western sanctions.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Kazakhstan is the largest producer of uranium in the world.
In Kazakhstan, the plant aims to stabilize domestic energy supplies for the long term, as it has struggled with coal-fired power infrastructure and electricity shortages for more than two decades.
“The agreement signed today on the construction of Balkhash NPP plays an important role,” Tokayev said at the signing ceremony.
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The $16.5 billion nuclear power plant project was signed during high-level talks in Astana between Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. (Getty Images)
Putin called the deal “a leading project in the field of peaceful nuclear energy” and said “the deployment of this facility will make a significant contribution to powering the Kazakh economy, helping to provide businesses and households with inexpensive and clean energy.”
“I would like to point out that, as we have agreed with the president of Kazakhstan, we are not only talking about the construction of a nuclear power plant or construction, we are talking about the construction of the entire industry, including education, training of workers, and so on,” he added.
According to Kazakhstan’s atomic energy agency, this large facility will house two advanced VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactors.
Total development costs are estimated at $16.5 billion, with officials noting that nearly $2 billion will be allocated to security systems and basic infrastructure.
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Putin called the agreement “a leading project in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.” (Getty Images, File)
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with the first reactor expected to start operating in early 2034.
The project follows a 2024 national referendum in which Kazakh voters formally approved development at the Balkhash site.
However, the pivot to nuclear power is sensitive to local residents. The nation hosted hundreds of Soviet nuclear weapons tests in the Semipalatinsk region between 1949 and 1989, leaving behind major public health and environmental pollution problems.
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Mistrust grew due to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, after which tens of thousands of Kazakh workers fell ill helping in the cleanup.
According to Bloomberg, the two countries re-signed the exchange rate plan on Thursday.
The Government of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina and the Government of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Timur Suleimenov signed the ruble-tenge swap agreement.
