MOSCOW — Russian officials said Iran has refused to honor its $1 billion contract
for the construction of a
1,500 megawatt light water reactor at Bushehr.
The officials said despite a pledge by
Teheran, Russia has not received full payment for Bushehr in about a year.
"They have reneged both on the schedule of payments and the amount to be
paid," an official said. "Without money, the project will not be completed."
The Russian assertion contrasted with that of senior Iranian officials
in December 2006, Middle East Newsline reported. At the
time, Teheran reported the payment of $22 million per month for Bushehr.
Officials said about 90 percent of the Bushehr contract has been paid.
Under an agreement reached in late 2006, Moscow pledged to complete
Bushehr in September 2007. Full operations had been scheduled to begin in
November 2007.
But officials said the Iranian failure to pay Russian contractors would
delay the completion of Bushehr. They said Moscow has already drafted a new
schedule, but would not elaborate.
Another official said Iran has underpaid Russian contractors since
January 2006. He said that Iran did not pay Moscow anything for work in
January 2007.
