Russia slows down Bushehr project

25 Jul, 2007 04:44 / Updated 17 years ago

A Russian nuclear subcontractor has said Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant will be completed by the autumn of 2008, a year later than scheduled. Ivan Istomin, the head of the Energoprogress company, said the main reason for the delay is Iran's failure to

Bushehr is Iran’s first nuclear power plant being built since a 1995 agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Russia has come under strong pressure from the West for building the facility for Iran. The $US 1 BLN project, implemented under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, has suffered repeated delays. Russian contractor, Atomstroyexport, threatened to suspend the project earlier this year, claiming Tehran had fallen behind on payments. Meantime, Iran blamed the Russian contractors for the delay.