Documents related to the construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant are in the final stages of approval, including financing arrangements.
Alexey Borodavkin, Russia’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, announced the update in an interview with Russia 24.
The agreement outlines the project’s organizational, legal and technical framework. A second set of documents covers the provision of a Russian state loan for construction of the plant.
Project timeline and costs
Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, to be built on the shores of Lake Balkhash, will be constructed by Russia’s Rosatom.
Read also: China may build nuclear power plant faster than Russia, Kazakh vice premier says.
Concrete pouring for the plant’s foundation could begin in 2029, according to Almassadam Satkaliyev, head of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Atomic Energy (AAE), speaking in late 2025.
Kazakh companies could receive about 30% of the project’s estimated $15 billion cost — roughly $4.5 billion — through the supply of goods and services, said Vassiliy Lavrenov, deputy head of AAE.
Plans for additional plants
The government later announced that China’s CNNC had become the lead member of a consortium to build the country’s second and third nuclear plants.
The second plant is planned for the Zhambyl district of the Almaty region.
