President Mauricio Macri gave the go-ahead and reactivated the agreement with the Xi Jinping administration to advance the construction project of the fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Argentina, with a global investment of 7,900 Billion dollars.
The project will take effect in 2021. The Government’s decision to move forward with the Nuclear Power Plant was taken approximately at the end of February, followed by a reduction of almost 1 billion US dollars that Argentina achieved for the investment base funding of the plant. originally it was US $ 9 Billion and now it will be US $ 7,9 Billion. In addition, the Government also obtained that China provide an additional loan of US $ 2,5 billion that will be freely available from the National Treasury. All these loans will begin to be paid only in 2021, with which the Government believes that the current economic situation will not be affected by these disbursements.
The difference of criteria had been originated between the minister of Property, Nicolás Dujovne, and the then secretary of Energy, Javier Iguacel. The owner of the economic portfolio argued that in the situation of budgetary contraction in which the country was, it was not convenient to move forward in a loan with China for the construction of a nuclear power plant. Iguacel and the Undersecretary of Nuclear Energy, Julián Gadano, for their part, insisted on the benefits that this project included. After the departure of Iguacel and the arrival of Gustavo Lopetegui to Energía, the panorama was cleared.
