DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Russia entered a race with China and South Korea on Sunday to win a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant for energy-starved Bangladesh, officials said.

Russian envoy Gennady Trotsenko presented a proposal to Yafes Osman, state minister for science and information and communication technology. China and South Korea have made similar proposals in the last year, but Bangladesh has yet to make a decision. "We have placed a proposal for undertaking efforts to set a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh," Trotsenko told reporters after meeting Osman.