China has suspended granting of $1 billion loan to Mongolia on hydroelectric power station construction
Almaty. July 12. Silkroadnews – China has frozen the issuance of Mongolia loan to the amount of $1 billion for the construction of hydropower plants due to Russia’s concerns, Bloomberg reports referring to the Mongolian government documents.
According to these documents, the reason behind is Russia’s concern that the power plant construction on the river Selenga may harm the Baikal lake. China has frozen the project funding until the parties reach a compromise decision.
As Bloomberg notes, Mongolia plans to build a 103-meter dam to generate 315 megawatts of renewable energy. The purpose of the construction is, in particular, to generate additional electricity volume in peak periods, as well as reduce dependence on Russia and coal generation. Mongolia spends more than $25 million a year to import Russian electricity, the newspaper writes.
“This project, in our opinion, can really have a negative impact on the lake. We expect we will be able to find a mutually acceptable solution through the bilateral contacts,” Bloomberg quoted Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov saying.
Meanwhile, Russian media reported that Mongolia has not yet assessed the impact the construction of hydropower plant for the environment. Russian authorities intend to get the international community, in particular the World Bank and UNESCO, engaged in discussion of this issue.
