Russian ambassador Sergey Kopirkin during a briefing on Thursday spoke about the situation over the Russia's loan to Armenia.

Earlier, Armenia has refused part of the Russian loan for the modernization of the Armenian nuclear power plant and decided to attract budget loans.

According to the envoy, $ 200 million out of $ 270 million has already been spent. 

“Unfortunately, the work was not completed after the expiration of the intergovernmental deal. The reasons are different. The issue is not closed and is being discussed at the level of the Ministries of Finance of the two countries. Now the Armenian side has decided to carry out part of the work at its own expense,” the ambassador added.

He recalled that the license expires in 2021, and it is necessary to carry out high-tech work that requires lengthy preparation and Armenia decided to raise its funds to meet deadlines.

"The result of modernization of nuclear power plants at this stage was the extension of the safe operation of the station until 2026, which was confirmed, among other things, by the IAEA experts. Thanks to the commissioning of more modern turbine equipment, the capacity increase was 15%. This provides an opportunity to meet the needs of the most important sectors and makes a significant contribution to keeping tariffs at a relatively low level," he noted.