Russia's $16 Billion Nuclear Deal With Kazakhstan Lacks One Critical Detail
Rystad: U.S.-Iran Re-Escalation Could Drive Oil To $180 By August Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on… When can a deal involving Russia be considered as done? When it comes to Russia’s agreement to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, it is hard to determine.
Kazakh officialsannouncedalmost a year ago that Russia’s nuclear energy entity, Rosatom, would build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash.
Yet on May 28, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, on a state visit to the Central Asian country, signedan agreementcovering the “basic principles and conditions of cooperation” concerning the nuclear power project.
Despite the announcements and agreements, the main question surrounding the power plant’s actual construction still lacks a clear answer: where is the money to build it coming from? An Interfax news agencyreportput the price tag of the Lake Balkhash plant at $16.4 billion, including the building of necessary infrastructure in the surrounding area.
According to the May 28 agreement, the Russian state will extend credit to cover most of the project’s expense.
But financing details have not been disclosed.
Interfax quoted Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev as saying Russian credit will account for "most of the volume of investment … but not for all; part will remain with the Kazakh side." Earlier, unconfirmed estimates put the Russian share of construction at about 80-85 percent.
The lack of specifics raises questions about the Kremlin’s ability to deliver on its financing promises.
The burden of maintaining the country’s war effort in Ukraine is quickly sapping Russia’s financial resilience.
The Russian government recentlyslashedits economic growth forecast for 2026 to a meager 0.4 percent, down from 1.3 percent.
The Kremlin’s cash reserves are rapidly dwindling and the government this yearhas increasingly turnedto dumping gold on international markets to raise cash.
During a joint news conference with Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev glossed over questions about financing, instead emphasizing that the Lake Balkhash power plant “will become a locomotive for scientific, educational and technological cooperation, and will ensure the development of new related sectors of the energy sector and the industry as a whole.” Perhaps tacitly recognizing that Russia in a weakened state is potentially more apt to lash out in other directions, Tokayev seemed to make an extra effort to solicit Putin’s favor, lavishing fawning praise on the Kremlin leader.
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