Rosatom plans to sell Akkuyu project stake to Turkish conglomerate

MOSCOW-Reuters

Russia’s Rosatom plans to sell a 49 percent stake in the Akkuyu nuclear power plant project to Turkish conglomerate Cengiz-Kolin-Kalyon and will sign a preliminary deal on June 19, the head of Rusatom Energy International said.

Last week, Rosatom won approval from Turkey’s energy watchdog to go ahead with building the $20 billion Akkuyu project.

It is expected to be completed by 2023 and meet 6-7 percent of Turkey’s electricity demand.

Anastasia Zoteyeva, head of Rusatom Energy International, speaking on the sidelines of a nuclear conference in Moscow, said that an agreement with Turkish investors should be signed by the end of year.

She did not reveal the size of the investment, which should help to meet part of Turkey’s energy demand, among the fastest-growing in Europe.

The project will be financed by Rosatom and its partners and will involve loans from export-import agencies and banks, Anastasia Polovinkina, director of Rusatom’s finance and investment analysis department told the conference.

Power from the project’s four 1,200 megawatt reactors will be sold mostly to the state with a small amount to be offered on the open market, Polovinkina said.

Rosatom’s overseas order book stands at $133 billion for the next 10 years, with almost three times more foreign orders than in 2011, Rosatom first deputy CEO Kirill Komarov told the conference.

Rosatom is increasing its overseas order book faster than expected and is confident it can continue to expand abroad, Komarov said.