A little known website called Global Defense Corp has alleged that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajib Wazed Joy, and niece Tulip Siddiq have reportedly embezzled over $5 billion in collusion with Russian officials by artificially inflating the cost of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP).
This website should not be confused with the US based Global Defense Corp, which according to Bloomberg is a company specializing in monitoring and maintaining security system devices such as burglar and fire alarms.
The website, global defense corp, has previously posted stories that appear more like blogs than news reports, that need evidence and corroboration. Such as the story on S Alam where journalists found copies of donations to Cyprus in exchange for a passport and the shell companies he used to buy apartments in Singapore.
There are a lot of spelling mistakes and typos in this particular story, such as: “Russia assisted former prime minister Hasina in siphoning this $5 billion to various Malaysian banks from various Russian slash funds kept in the Malaysian banks.”
What they mean is slush funds- a reserve of money used for illicit purposes, especially political bribery not slash funds.
The website's ownership and registration too is extremely opaque. While using Who.is we found registration, administration and technical contact info to be under Privacy Project LLC located at 10 Corporate Drive in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA.
10 Corporate Drive in Burlington is the address of a commercial building in an area with shops and business in a small town in Massachusetts, USA. The website for the commercial building does not register a company named Global Defense Corp under registered businesses. All we know is that the website was launched in 2018.
While the RNPP, constructed by the Russian agency Rosatom is being built at a cost that is nearly double that of similar projects in the subcontinent, particularly in India, there have been no official investigations or reports on why that is.
The practice of over invoicing is nothing new in Bangladesh. Just in April this year, it was revealed that the government paid Tk93 lakh for two pipe cutters for the Matarbari Power Plant.
Customs officials found that the price of two German-made hammers was shown Tk1.82 lakh. Similarly, the price of two pipe cutters made by the same German company was shown at Tk92.99 lakh, reported a local English newspaper.
The website of the German company, KS Tools shows the price of a look-alike hammer is 13.90 euros or TK 1,668 each, which is 55 times or 5,500%less than the imported price.
The company website also shows the price of a pipe cutter that matches with the imported one is 60.27 euros or Tk7,232 each, 642 times (64,200%) less than the imported value, the newspaper found.
Officials involved with the Rooppur project have declined to comment on the high costs compared to other similar-sized projects, such as the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Tamil Nadu in India.
The original cost of the two units for Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was ₹13,171 crore, but it was later revised to ₹17,270 crore (US$2.6 billion). Russia advanced a credit of ₹ 6,416 crore (US$0.97 billion) for both the units, according to Frontline.
The Ministry of Science and Technology in Bangladesh said the financial cost of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) project is approximately $12.65 billion.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4, which are being built by Rosatom, cost approximately $6.5 billion for both units. If we consider that each unit might cost around $3.25 billion, this gives us a baseline of roughly $3 billion per unit.
If similar plants cost around $2 billion per unit in India, this baseline is an important reference for cost expectations in Bangladesh.
Given that Bangladesh is building its first nuclear power plant, initial costs might be higher due to factors like the lack of existing infrastructure and supply chains.
For a fair comparison, assuming a reasonable increase for first-time costs (e.g., 50% to 100% higher due to the initial setup), a more realistic estimate for a new plant in Bangladesh might be around $3 to $4 billion per unit, compared to $2 billion in India.
The higher reported costs for Rooppur, the actual cost should be in the range of $6 to $8 billion for the entire 2,400 MW project, considering it involves multiple units and additional factors such as regulatory and logistical challenges.
So, if a comparable nuclear power plant in India costs about $2 billion per unit, the expected cost for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh should ideally be around $6 to $8 billion, factoring in the additional costs associated with setting up a first-time project.
The reported cost of $12.65 billion suggests that the RNPP is significantly more expensive than similar projects, raising questions about potential overinflation or mismanagement, which is typical of all large scale projects in Bangladesh.
Exactly who and where that money has gone, is yet to be investigated by the appropriate authorities.
A study published in the Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal on January 19, 2022, found that Bangladesh has borne significant setup costs for various facilities, including telecommunications, transportation, and water and gridline establishment.
The study, titled “Estimating the Economic Cost of Setting Up a Nuclear Power Plant at Rooppur in Bangladesh,” compared the costs of Rooppur Units 1 and 2 to India’s Kudankulam Units 3 and 4, both of which are being built by Rosatom, Russia’s largest electricity producer.
Representatives of Rosatom have denied any allegations of wrongdoing in the RNPP project and say they are prepared to defend themselves in court.
In a statement released on Monday, August 19, Rosatom dismissed the allegations as baseless and stated its readiness to take legal action to protect its reputation and interests.
"Rosatom rejects the provocative news published and circulated in the media regarding unethical financial transactions in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. We are committed to transparent working practices, strict anti-corruption policies, and openness in all procurement processes," the statement read.
The agency emphasized that all business processes are subject to regular external audits, ensuring transparency and accountability.
"We view the false information published and circulated in the media as an attempt to discredit the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project, which is vital for addressing Bangladesh's electricity shortage and improving the welfare of its people," Rosatom added.
The study found that the economic cost of the Rooppur project is nearly double that of Kudankulam Units 3 and 4, which are India’s 25th and 26th nuclear power reactors.
According to the study, the economic cost was 9.36 cents per kWh for a capacity of 2,400 MW, compared to Kudankulam, where the corresponding cost is 5.36 cents per kWh for 2,000 MW.
The fifth and sixth units of Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, which were not covered in the study, will also have a financial cost of about $6.5 billion to build.
On July 26, 2016, Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental credit agreement with Russia amounting to $11.385 billion—90% of the total cost—to finance the construction of the 2,400 MW nuclear power plant.
According to experts, the cost of construction in Bangladesh is significantly higher than in other countries, including neighboring India, despite using the same Russian technology.
The project, implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Technology, is more expensive because it is the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, according to one report. However, expert analysts suggest that the price tag is inflated far beyond any rational pricing, leading to charges of corruption and collusion on the part of the Bangladeshi officials responsible for the deal.
Furthermore, the cost in Bangladesh is higher than in Belarus, which is also setting up its first nuclear plants using Russian VVER technology, indicating that there are additional reasons for the higher expenditures beyond the first-time cost of installing an NPP, even accounting for the fact that costs are lower in Belarus due to its proximity to Russia which reduces transportation costs.
“Equipment, machinery, and tools for the Rooppur NPP are being manufactured in Russian factories,” said Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Assistant Professor Abid Hossain Khan. “The equipment is then brought by waterways. So, the distance between nations is important when calculating costs,” he added.
He also noted that construction costs might decrease if Bangladesh could manufacture some of the equipment domestically.
None of the officials related to the project was willing to comment on the high cost of the Rooppur NPP compared to similar projects in India and Belarus. However, speaking to the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity, they mentioned that the initial investment for the project was relatively high, but the plant would supply clean electricity at a low rate over its 60-year lifetime.
On October 2, 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first phase of construction for the project.
Three years later, on November 30, 2016, the first concrete casting work for the first unit was inaugurated by her.
On October 10, 2021, the first unit of the Reactor Pressure Vessel was installed.
According to the World Nuclear Association, 447 nuclear reactors are currently operational in 30 countries.
As many as 60 new reactors are under construction worldwide, with 39 of them in rapidly developing countries in Asia.
China alone has 19 reactors under construction, while India has seven, the United Arab Emirates four, South Korea three, and Russia seven.
