Bangladesh has decided to give tax exemption for the imported machinery for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and is also thinking to appoint a consultant to ensure quality of all instruments and machinery.
These topics were discussed in the third routine meeting of the Bangladesh-Russia joint coordination committee on the implementation of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. The meeting took place in Moscow, Russia on March 6. The Bangladesh delegation was led by its Science and Technology Minister Yafes Osman and First Deputy Director General for Operations Management of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Alexander Lokshin headed the Russian delegation.
In the meeting the transportation of cement and other building materials, from the sea port and cement factories to the project site, was also discussed. The strategic use of Bangabandhu bridge, railway and river path was also among the discussion list of the meeting. According to the sources, various issues – including the tax exemption for the imported machinery, were successfully discussed at the meeting.
The meeting was also attended by Chief Coordinator of the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office Abul Kalam Azad, Chairman of the National Board of Revenue Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Science and Technology Secretary Anwar Hossain, Additional Secretary of Science and Technology Ministry Iti Rani Poddar, Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Russia Dr. Saiful Haque and Project Director of RNPP project Shawkat Akbar.
Prior to the meeting, Bangladesh Army delegation led by Brigadier General Azizul Bari Chowdhury and Brigadier General AKM Shams met with the officials from the Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom to discuss the physical security of the RNPP project. They also discussed other issues including the transportation of machinery to the project site. The Bangladesh side also apprised that its Army will be helping in the transport of the machinery from the ports to the nuclear power plant site at Rooppur in the Pabna district.
