Russia's Agenda Behind Belarusian Nuclear Plant

Russia and Belarus are expected to sign the final contract of an energy agreement whereby Russia will construct Belarus' first nuclear power plant, in the city of Astraviec. The agreement, likely to be signed sometime in July, stipulates that Russian energy companies will construct the plant, which will host Russian nuclear technology exclusively. In addition, Moscow has agreed to lend Minsk $10 billion to cover roughly 85 percent of the plant's total cost. Construction on the plant could begin as soon as September and the plant could be operational by 2018.

The intent of the Astraviec plant is not only to project Russian power into the Belarusian energy sector; Belarus has long been dependent on Russian energy commodities, so Russia's influence is already firmly established. Instead, the plant is an indirect move against neighboring Lithuania, which is diversifying away from Russian energy with its own liquefied natural gas and nuclear power programs. Russia sees a potential Lithuanian power plant as a way for the other Baltic countries to lessen their dependency on Russian energy, something Russia hopes the new Belarusian nuclear plant will curb.