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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (14602)	2/20/2007 9:56:50 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 221548

DJ UPDATE: Russia:Iran's Tardy Payment Could Delay Nuclear Plant (Updates an item that ran at 1141 GMT with new official comments) MOSCOW (AP)--Russia's nuclear agency warned Tuesday that Iranian delays in payments for the Russian construction of a nuclear plant would push back its launch date and delay uranium fuel deliveries from Russia. A top Iranian nuclear official on Monday rejected Russian allegations that Tehran had been dragging its feet on payments, and accused Moscow of trying to delay the launch of the reactor. But Russia's Federal Nuclear Power Agency spokesman Sergei Novikov insisted Tuesday that Iran has made no payments this month, and paid only a small share of what was due in January. Novikov told The Associated Press that Iran was to pay Russia US$25 million (EUR19 million) a month for construction works at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. But he said Tehran has continuously dragged its feet on meeting the obligations. "Iran paid only 60% of the amount due during the fourth quarter of last year; it paid US$5.1 million (EUR3.9 million) in January and nothing in February," he told the AP. Novikov said Russia remained committed to fulfilling the US$1 billion (EUR760 million) Bushehr contract, but added that "the shortage of funding on the Iranian side will certainly affect the plan to launch the plant in September, and, accordingly, (the) nuclear fuel delivery schedule." Iran has been keen to get the uranium fuel from Russia, but Russian officials said it would only be delivered six months before the plant's launch. Novikov's statement followed comments by Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who said there was no delay from the Iranian side. Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president who now heads a powerful clerical body called the Expediency Council, hinted Monday that Russia was buckling under international pressure. "We expect our friends (Russia) to prevent such attempts," IRNA quoted Rafsanjani as saying. Vladimir Pavlov, a top official at Russia's state Atomstroiexport company in charge of the Bushehr contract, said Tuesday he expected an Iranian delegation to visit to solve the funding dispute. "This issue requires making specific decisions quickly," Pavlov said in a statement. "Bushehr remains the main project of Russian-Iranian cooperation, and there is no talk about suspending or freezing its construction," he said. In December, Russia supported a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing limited sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, but the support came only after an initial proposal that would have imposed curbs on the Bushehr plant was dropped. The U.S. and some allies claim Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, while Tehran maintains it is only intended to generate electricity. The Kremlin had proposed that Iran move its enrichment work to Russian territory, where it could be better monitored, to alleviate international suspicions. Iranian leaders had said they were interested in the idea but nothing came of it as Tehran insisted on keeping some uranium enrichment activities on its soil. (END) Dow Jones Newswires February 20, 2007 09:47 ET (14:47 GMT)