"Russia or as they claim representatives of Russian authorities have never put forward a proposal on building a nuclear power plant in North Korea," the ambassador stressed. "Anyone who knows something about this issue absolutely understands that this proposal is stupid."

PYONGYANG, January 30. /TASS/. Moscow has never made a proposal to North Korea’s authorities on building a nuclear power plant in the country in exchange for Pyongyang’s dismantling nuclear weapons, Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora told TASS commenting on a report of The Washington Post .

According to the high-ranking Russian diplomat, one of the most convincing arguments, which rejects groundless claims of the US newspaper, is a very high price tag of the NPP’s construction. "An NPP costs several billion dollars," Matsegora stressed. Nearly the same amount or even more is needed to bankroll the full modernization of North Korea’s energy infrastructure, including its electric networks. "Without this a nuclear plant would be not less dangerous than the republic’s entire current nuclear potential," he emphasized.

The ambassador noted that the authors of this notorious report have not taken into account the spending on maintaining the NPP, which North Korea cannot afford in the current economic situation. "The cost of fuel and utilization of spent elements plus maintenance costs - isn’t that too costly for capturing a North Korean market, which is not very rich," the head of Russia’s diplomatic mission in Pyongyang stressed.