Due to the ongoing dollar crisis in Bangladesh, the government will pay the advance payment of the Rooppur nuclear power plant project in local currency instead of US dollars.

According to the decision , the government has decided to pay a partial amount of Tk 1.50 cr  or 15 million US dollars in Bangladeshi taka  to Russian contrator  AtmontroyExport  of power plant project as part of the contract price and 10 percent advance payment. The Russian Federation government has already responded positively to that request.

Additional Secretary Science and Technology Ministry Monirul Islam Titas confirmed the matter to The Mirror Asia and said, "We have taken the decision to pay the Russian contractor in  Taka instead of USD." Sonali Bank has been asked to take appropriate measures in this regard.

He also said that it is up to them (AtmontroyExport) how to Russian contractor  will take the Bangladesh currency bring to its country.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the dollar  crisis state-owned  Sonali Bank Plc has become unable  to  make transactions in dollar  between Russia and Bangladesh for the Ruppur project. Due to this, if Ruppur nuclear power plant transactions are done in Taka, the government bank can save dollars.

Despite repeated requests, the Central Bank has not provided the required dollars to Sonali Bank. As a result, the debt to foreign banks has increased, the image of Sonali Bank has been damaged in the international market. State-owned Sonali Bank is struggling to process letters of credit (LC), especially to meet the liabilities of government institutions for imported goods amid the persistent dollar crunch.

As of June 11, the outstanding import liability of Sonali Bank to the banks of different countries of the world stands at 755 million dollars.

Sonali Bank's Deputy Managing Director Subhash Chandra Das wrote a letter to Bangladesh Bank's Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department Director AKM Kamruzzaman on June 11. The letter requested urgent assistance from Bangladesh Bank to provide necessary dollars to settle the arrears of 72 import LCs.

According to relevant sources, recently keeping in mind the dollar crisis of Sonali Bank, the decision was taken to pay part of the money in Bangladeshi Taka instead of dollars in the 7th meeting of the GCC with the government regarding the advance payment of 10 percent of the Ruppur nuclear contract price. In pursuance of the decision, Atomstroyexport has signed another extended agreement on the basis of the general agreement for payment in rupees in exchange for dollars. 

According to Clause 1 of the extended agreement signed, Atomstroy Export has requested to pay 1.5 million taka or 15 million US dollars equivalent to Tk 1.50 cr  from the total of 64.515 million USD of 10 percent advance for the 1st quarter of 2023.

Two years ago, after the month of February 2022, the 10 percent advance payment process was stopped due to the international sanctions on Venus Kolmal Bank, the Russian bank set by the Russian contractor company due to the ongoing conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In order to keep the ongoing work of the project uninterrupted, as per the directives of the meeting held on 17th April 2022 presided over by  the  Secretary of the Ministry of  Seceince and  Technology, a FC account is being operated in Sonali Bank on 25th of May in the name of Atomstroyexport, a Rashan contractor company, with the approval of Bangladesh Bank.

A total of 82.225 million USD has been paid in four installments of 2022 as Sonali Bank managed account . Advice sent to Sonali Bank Plc for payment to  Atomstroyexport for 10 percent advance for four quarters of calendar year 2023 including USD 97.405 million and USD 6.325 million for 1st quarter of calendar year 2024, totaling USD 103.73 million for five quarters but not yet paid not possible Russian company Atomstroyexport is signing a general contract for the construction of Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant at Pabna  under the Inter-State Agreement and Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the Government of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has taken a loan of $12.65 billion from the Russian Federation for the construction of Ruppur nuclear power plant. According to the fixed contract price, the Government of the Russian Federation will provide 90 percent of the total project cost ($11.38 billion) as loan assistance. The remaining 10 percent (1.256 billion dollars) will be added by the Bangladesh government. A few months ago, the government formally requested an extension of two years to start paying the first installment of the loan.

The first installment of the country's largest foreign debt is due on March 15, 2027. Now the government wants to pay the first installment on March 15, 2029. After an inter-ministerial meeting on March 27, the Economic Relations Division has decided to seek an extension of two years for the tenure of this loan and the first installment.